The first brick has been placed on site at Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes’ Chaulden Meadows development off Long Chaulden, Hemel Hempstead. Chaulden Meadows will offer 1,100 two to five-bedroom new homes with the site and two show homes set to launch in Autumn and the first residents poised to move in at the start of 2026.
Hemel Hempstead previously formed as one of the government’s designated New Towns in 1947 and has since grown considerably since the initial post war masterplan1. Chaulden Meadows is set to make a significant positive contribution towards Dacorum Borough Council’s target of delivering 10,000 new homes by 2050 and five-year housing land supply2, whilst providing the Borough Council and local community with a distinctive and sustainable development.
Working closely with Dacorum Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council, the development is also set to deliver new local facilities, including a primary school, local convenience retail unit, a community hub and square, alongside a children’s day nursery, specialist accommodation for the elderly and contributions towards local health service improvements. Up to 40% of homes will also be affordable and will be managed by a Housing Association.
The homes will also deliver a wealth of sustainable features within its homes and surrounding areas, including public landscaping, a network of accessible and linked walking and cycling roads, ecological mitigation, sustainable drainage systems, earthworks, ecological habitats, one Neighbourhood Equipped Area of Play (NEAP), two Locally Equipped Areas of Play (LEAPs) and a Community Games Area (CGA).
Through their S106 agreements, Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes will also invest a total amount of £12.6 million into the local community. This will help to fund essential infrastructure, education, transport, biodiversity, and community services.
Marc Woolfe, Sales & Marketing Director at Barratt David Wilson North Thames, comments: “Originally created as a response to get Britain building after the Second World War, new towns in the Home Counties have a proven track record of boosting local economies, providing quality homes in the areas people want to live, and ensuring residents have access to all the facilities they need to create relatively autonomous communities. Chaulden Meadows will expand on this progress, as we are seeing an increasing number of first time buyers heading up the M1 in search of more reasonable house prices. Due to the site’s location, we expect high interest over the next few months during our official launch.”
Sandwiched between the towns of Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted, Chaulden Meadows is extremely well served by public transport and easy road use. The local railway station is within walking distance, offering connections to London Euston in under 30 minutes. For road use, the development leads to the A41, allowing easy access to M1 and M25. Hemel Hempstead itself boasts its own old town featured in Netflix’s ‘Afterlife’, an indoor skiing and snowboarding centre ‘The Snow Centre’, and further afield, Warner Bros Studio Tours is under a 15-minute drive away
To find out more about Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes, visit www.dwh.co.uk / www.barratthomes.co.uk or call 0333 355 8500 / 0333 355 8501.
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