South Cambridgeshire District Council has approved plans for a landmark new neighbourhood at Northstowe, bringing together two cohousing communities within a single mixed‑tenure development — a first-of-its-kind scheme in the UK.
The project marks the inaugural major development from the joint venture between TOWN and The Hill Group, delivered in partnership with Homes England, the master developer for phases two and three of Northstowe. The partnership was created to expand the delivery of cohousing and community‑driven neighbourhoods across the south of England, combining Hill’s large‑scale delivery expertise with TOWN’s national leadership in resident‑led development.
Designed by Mole Architects, the development will deliver 145 homes across four compact urban buildings located close to the emerging town centre. 40 per cent of the homes will be affordable, including both Affordable Rent and Discount Market Sale options.
The neighbourhood is the first in the UK to provide two distinct cohousing communities side by side as part of a strategic new town expansion. It will be home to:
- Suvana Cohousing, a group shaped by Buddhist principles, and
- Northstowe Cohousing, a multigenerational community inspired by the award-winning Marmalade Lane development.
Future residents have had significant influence through a comprehensive codesign process, helping shape internal layouts, shared facilities and landscape character. The scheme offers a broad mix of terraces, maisonettes and apartments, ranging from one to four bedrooms.
A car‑free play street forms the spine of the masterplan, linking directly to the Greenway park. Shared gardens, natural play areas and two common houses will provide essential social spaces for communal meals, events and everyday neighbourly connection.
All houses will be timber‑framed, and every home is designed to deliver high energy performance, incorporating air‑source heat pumps and low‑carbon materials. The landscape design by Guarda Landscape integrates sustainable drainage features, edible planting and nature‑based play. Streets have been designed to prioritise walking, cycling and outdoor activity, following Building for a Healthy Life principles.
Approval of the scheme marks a major milestone for the TOWN–Hill joint venture.
Jonny Anstead, Director at TOWN, said: “Projects like this are still very rare in the UK. Opportunities to deliver cohousing at scale don’t come along often. What makes Northstowe particularly unusual is that we’re creating two cohousing communities side by side within a single neighbourhood.
It’s also an important moment for our partnership with Hill. This is the first project from the joint venture to reach planning, and it shows how community-focused housing can be delivered as part of mainstream development.”
Tom Hill, Managing Director at The Hill Group, added: “We’re delighted to reach this key milestone with planning secured for such a distinctive development. Partnership working has been central to turning the vision of these two cohousing communities into a deliverable plan, and we look forward to providing high-quality homes that support community, sustainability and intergenerational living.”
Matthew Brown, Head of Large Sites at Homes England, said: “Diversifying the housing offer at Northstowe is essential to accelerating delivery and shaping a resilient new town. This scheme shows how cohousing, affordable housing and high-quality design can be successfully combined within a commercially viable development.”
Construction is expected to begin in summer 2026.
Those interested in joining either cohousing community can find more information at:
www.wearetown.co.uk/cohousing.