Dozens of Leicestershire ‘affordable’ homes are planned for field on the edge of the city

A developer is eyeing a field on the edge of a Leicestershire town for new homes. Owl Homes said permission had previously been given for the site, off Angell Drive, next to the Farndon Fields development in Market Harborough, to be built on.

In 2019, approval was granted for 28 homes on the site, but this permission has now expired. Owl Homes is now looking to build 40 properties on the estate.

All of this would be “affordable” housing, the developer said in its application to Harborough District Council’s planning committee. These would be a combination of low-cost rents and shared ownership homes – where the tenant can buy part of the home and then pay rent for the remaining share.

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These would consist of 10 one-bed houses, 14 two-bed houses, 14 three-bed houses, two four-bed houses if scheme approval is granted. The properties would each be two stories in height, the application added. Access to the development would be via an extension of the adjacent Henry Road, which is currently a dead end.

Currently, a public right-of-way runs through the land. That would be maintained, the documents show, but diverted so it goes around the new housing. Owl Homes is also proposing to create a green space at the northern edge of the site, which would have a wildflower meadow, it said.

A public consultation on the scheme runs until Wednesday 7 August. Harborough District Council has set a target decision date of Tuesday, October 8.