Award-winning housebuilder, The Hill Group has joined forces with TOWN, the UK’s leading cohousing developer, in a strategic joint venture to scale up the delivery of community-focused residential development and cohousing. This ambitious partnership signals a major step towards integrating innovative cohousing models into the mainstream housing sector, combining Hill’s industry-leading delivery expertise with TOWN’s pioneering approach to community-oriented development.
Together, Hill and TOWN are committed to redefining how new neighbourhoods are conceived and built, with a particular focus on resident engagement, custom build and stewardship. Over the next five years, the joint venture will focus on delivering mixed-use, community-focused developments that reflect the evolving needs of residents while championing sustainability and innovation in the built environment.
The partnership will help scale TOWN’s successful approach to delivering cohousing, a housing model that actively cultivates community through the provision of shared spaces and spaces and amenities that are jointly owned and managed by residents. Future residents will play a significant role in the design process, working with TOWN to help shape their homes and neighbourhoods.
The joint venture launches with a £50m project at Northstowe, a pioneering new town in South Cambridgeshire. Landowner Homes England has selected the partnership to bring forward approximately 150 homes, including two cohousing communities, alongside a mix of private and affordable housing. The joint venture draws from TOWN’s track record of successful collaboration with public and institutional partners. These include Cambridge City Council, Landsec and The Crown Estate – relationships that have shaped projects such as the regeneration of Wolverton town centre with Milton Keynes City Council, the strategic masterplan for Hartree in Cambridge, and a resident-led neighbourhood at Westwick Row in Hemel Hempstead.
TOWN is already inviting future residents interested in cohousing at Northstowe to help design the community’s homes and shared spaces – including gardens, play areas and a common house for shared meals and community activities – with a planning application expected to be submitted this summer.
The partnership builds on the success of TOWN’s groundbreaking Marmalade Lane cohousing community in Cambridge, which has become a national exemplar of best practices in community-oriented development. Completed in 2019, Marmalade Lane is home to 100 adults and children and maintains a waiting list of over 500 households. It has received more than ten national awards for architecture, planning, placemaking and social value and is widely featured in national policy and best practice guidance. Nearby, The Hill Group has delivered a 100% affordable housing development at Orchard Park in partnership with Cambridge City Council, further demonstrating both organisations’ commitment to inclusive and sustainable living.
The new joint venture aims to deliver new homes across London, East of England, South East and South Midlands, regions where both companies already maintain a strong presence. It will work closely with public sector bodies, legacy landowners and forward-thinking partners to deliver places that generate long-term social, environmental and financial value, through a mix of shorter and longer-term projects at different scales
The joint venture is structured to allow close coordination of planning, design and delivery from the outset, making sure quality is embedded and maintained through every stage to create better places, faster and with greater long-term value.
Andy Hill OBE, Founder and Group Chief Executive of The Hill Group, said: “This is an exciting move for Hill as we step into the cohousing sector for the first time. TOWN’s community-first perspective to development presents a fresh and innovative approach that aligns with our commitment to creating sustainable, socially valuable communities. This venture not only expands and diversifies our development pipeline but also reflects our ambition to support the growth of smaller, values-driven developers who are making a real impact in the sector.”
Jonny Anstead, Director of TOWN, added “This partnership enables us to take our proven model of resident-led development to new places and bigger projects, while keeping our commitment to quality and community at the heart of what we do. With Hill, we have a partner who shares our ambition to change how housing gets made in the UK – and the capacity to help us do it.”
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