The agreement aims to accelerate the delivery of new homes and build a mixed-use town centre in the area, near Cambridge.
The project will be Britain’s largest new town under development, with 50 per cent of the proposed 3,000 new homes.
It comes amid a 30 per cent fall in housing association starts on site of new homes last year, with further falls expected this year.
In their election manifesto, the new Labour government promised the “biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding” in a generation”.
Meanwhile, the new town centre aims to provide local people and businesses with up to 50,000 sq m of commercial floorspace including shops, workspace and community facilities.
Northstowe is being developed on and around the site of the former RAF Oakington air base.
The development of the town centre is made possible by existing infrastructure delivered already by Homes England (including roads, public transport routes, cycleways, green spaces and schools).
The agency will act as the master developer for the final two phases of this 30-year project moving forward.
Peter Freeman, chair at Homes England, said: “This agreement marks a significant step towards the creation of a vibrant town centre in Northstowe, just across the road to the multi-school Education Campus which already has 700 pupils and is currently being extended to house over 2,000 people.”
Tim Wray, group development director at Keepmoat said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be involved in delivering the UK’s newest town.
“We know this collaboration will deliver transformational change at Northstowe, building on the significant infrastructure Homes England has delivered to date on the scheme.”
John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “Northstowe has all the makings of an exemplar new town, with inclusive community facilities and the sustainable new homes the UK so badly needs.”
“We’ve honed our craft delivering imaginative regeneration of towns and cities, with an acute focus on both social impact and award-winning design.”
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