Hayfield Acquires Fifth Bedfordshire Site to Deliver a £30m EPC-A Rated Development

Hayfield has acquired a prime 7-acre (2.84 Ha) allocated site in the Bedfordshire village of Toddington to deliver 61 EPC-A rated homes. The site represents Hayfield’s fifth development in the county in three years.

Located off Leighton Road and Russell Road, the land has been purchased from Landcrest Developments Limited. The site is allocated for residential development in the Central Bedfordshire Local Plan and has recently been awarded a Resolution to Grant Outline Planning Permission. Hayfield will shortly be submitting a Reserved Matters application for a £30m zero carbon ready scheme of 61 family homes, 30% of which will be designated for affordable housing.

Only 2% of the UK’s new homes are currently being built to EPC-A standards. The Toddington scheme will meet this rating and offer a greener way of living, thanks to solar PV panels, air source heat pumps, energy-efficient underfloor heating, EV fast-charging points, 100% renewable energy, and fibre optic broadband. The new development will be part-funded by Hayfield’s £67m facility with OakNorth Bank.

Andy Morris, Managing Director of Hayfield, said: “We are thrilled to have secured our fifth site in Bedfordshire since 2019. The village of Toddington benefits from two Ofsted-Outstanding schools, a range of local amenities, and picturesque countryside walks and views. The train station in the neighbouring village of Harlington offers a regular 45-minute commuter service to London St Pancras, providing the best of both worlds for families wishing to move out of Greater London to enjoy the lifestyle benefits of living in Bedfordshire.

“We will shortly be submitting a Reserved Matters Planning Application to Central Bedfordshire Council for 61 EPC-A Rated homes, ensuring future residents can significantly lower their carbon footprint and energy usage. In the meantime, we are concluding the final phases of work at nearby Hayfield Place in Silsoe and Hayfield Gate in Clifton, while selling zero carbon ready homes off-plan at Hayfield Park in Bromham and Hayfield Lakes in Clophill.”

Hayfield’s plans will propose a range of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom executive houses. 43 of the 61 new homes will be sold on the open market, while 18 will be designated for affordable housing. To generate enhancements to biodiversity, the expansive Toddington scheme will also incorporate Public Open Space, new habitats for wildlife, native tree planting, an attenuation pond to be planted with wetland wildflowers, and the vast majority of existing trees and hedgerows will also be retained and enhanced.

Hayfield’s sympathetic architecture – taking design cues from traditional properties in the village of Toddington – will be combined with an eco-efficient specification that far exceeds Building Regulations and the Future Homes Standard.

A new access road and a network of footpaths to adoptable standards will be created from Russell Road. The proposed new homes will be tenure blind, and all properties will have designated parking, with many benefiting from garages. Visitor parking spaces will also be widely available. The density of the development will be archetypally Hayfield and much lower than typical new build schemes.

Toddington is located three miles northwest of Luton, and eight miles southeast of Milton Keynes. The nearby A5 and M1 provide connections to national road and transport routes. There is an array of local amenities situated around Toddington village green, including four pubs, four churches, two schools, and a medical centre. The local towns of Dunstable and Luton offer additional facilities, including a large supermarket and hospital.

Hayfield is currently on site delivering over 400 homes at nine developments across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire. The six-year-old Solihull-headquartered business is on track to increase turnover to £150m this year.