Ground breaking for first homes at Houlton

An official ground breaking ceremony took place on the site of the former Rugby Radio Station to mark the first phase of 250 homes being built by the house builder, Davidsons Homes.

The homes represent the first phase of Houlton, a 1200-acre urban extension that will eventually comprise 6,200 new homes, three primary schools, a secondary school, a GP health centre, and 31 hectares of employment space and 299 hectares of open space.

The scheme, a joint venture between property development company Urban&Civic and Aviva Investors, is on the Government’s list of national priority sites and will be delivered over a 20-year period.

Stephanie King, Sales Director for Davidsons Homes, said: “Houlton is an extremely exciting development for Rugby and we are delighted to be at the forefront of the scheme by delivering the first homes at the site.

“We will be building a selection of high quality three, four and five-bedroom houses designed to appeal to a range of buyers and we hope to welcome the first visitors to the development by spring next year”.

Richard Coppell, Development Director for Urban&Civic, said: “We have spent the last 18 months preparing the site for homes, putting in essential infrastructure, roads and landscaping, so it is great to be at this stage. Davidsons Homes share our commitment to creating high quality places and so they were our ideal partner to get house building underway at Houlton.

“The first residents will really see, and feel, the level of investment we have made through the quality of open space and landscaping, the creation of the Dollman Farm Visitor Centre and café, the first primary school and especially through their new home.”

Rugby MP, Mark Pawsey, who has regularly visited the site over the past 12 months and is a longtime supporter of the development, added: “This is a very exciting day for the people of Rugby and the surrounding areas. Housing is an important issue for the entire country and here in Rugby we have one of the largest developments in the region taking shape, which will see the town and Borough continuing to grow and prosper. I look forward to following the progress at Houlton and welcoming its first residents in late summer next year”.

Mark Pawsey, Urban&Civic and Davidsons Homes were also joined at the ceremony by Rugby Borough Council Leader, Cllr Michael Stokes and representatives from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) who have invested £35m through the Urban&Civic and Aviva partnership to accelerate the construction of a new link road from Houlton into the town, which starts early next year.