Building society gets green light for housing development

Britain’s biggest building society is moving into the construction business after it was granted planning permission to build 239 homes in Swindon.

Nationwide, which is based in the town, announced its intention to build the community-led housing project at Oakfield Campus back in December 2017.

The society is planning to invest around £50m in a regeneration project, which “focuses on creating a multi-generational and supportive community, not just houses”.

All profits made through sale and rent of the properties will be reinvested in other Nationwide community projects.

The homes will include a mixture of one to four-bedroom properties. Seventy one of them will be designated as affordable housing.

Joe Garner, chief executive of Nationwide, said: “We’re delighted to receive approval to deliver a long-lasting, high-quality development in collaboration with local residents and Swindon Borough Council.

“As a building society we were founded to help improve housing, rather than maximising profit and shareholder return. Helping create these new homes and a thriving community is a great example of how we are guided by our purpose of building society, nationwide.”

Nationwide has partnered with Igloo Regeneration on the design of the new community. Construction is expected to start by the end of the year, with the first phase of homes available from Spring 2021.

Gary Sumner, cabinet member for strategic planning at Swindon Borough Council, said: “This development ticks a lot of boxes for the council and builds on the excellent, and award-winning, design standards we have seen across a number of new developments in Swindon. It is exactly the reason why we chose Nationwide as our partner to deliver local homes on the Oakfield site.

“The design of the homes is absolutely exceptional. However, it’s not just about the high quality of design and development, but also the improvements and benefits it will bring to the existing community.”

The construction site was used by Park Grammar School and then Oakfield School from the 1950s until the turn of the century, after which it was a University of Bath campus until 2008.