Work starts on 1,500-home Seaham Garden Village

Work is under way to create a new 1,500-hopme development on the outskirts of Seaham.

Three housing developers are involved in the creation of the new Seaham Garden Village, with 750 being developed for private sale by Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes and the remaining 750 by Karbon Homes, which will be available with a mix of both affordable rent and affordable home ownership options through shared ownership and rent to buy. 

Infrastructure work has now started on the development, which will take ten years to complete.

The 78-hectare garden village, located on the A182 going into Seaham town centre, will be made up of 50% managed green space with a range of landscapes and spaces for residents to use and more than three miles of landscaped paths and cycle routes. 

Sarah Robson, Director of Development and Regeneration at Karbon Homes said: "It’s great to see work getting under way at Seaham Garden Village. There’s been lots of work to get to this point and starting on site is testament to the hard work of multiple parties, including the developers, Durham County Council and Homes England. 

"Working with Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes is a great opportunity and between us we are focused on delivering a great place to live with different tenure options and various types of homes.

"This partnership will ensure Seaham Garden Village offers something for everyone and with the large scale of the site, we hope it will provide a great home for many people.”  

To help build a thriving community, the village will also include a facilities including a primary school, a local shopping facility, an innovation centre and a health and wellbeing hub. All homes will also be built to the very latest energy standards.  

Steve McCann, Technical Director at Miller Homes, said: “Seaham Garden Village is an outstanding opportunity to create an attractive and sustainable new community in a highly accessible location. 

"The commencement of work on site is the culmination of several years of design development and we are delighted to be working alongside Karbon Homes and Taylor Wimpey to deliver this high-quality scheme."

Both Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes have begun work on their private sale properties, with first homes expected to become available from Autumn 2023. 

David Abercrombie, Technical Director at Taylor Wimpey North East said: "This is an exciting development and is a great example of collaboratively working with our consortium partner Miller Homes, and also Karbon Homes, a fundamental partner to the development.

"This Garden Village project will deliver all the aspects of a thriving community set in a high-quality landscape.”"

Karbon Homes is currently in the process of appointing a new contractor and hope to be on site with homes being built later in the year. 

The delivery of the 750 affordable homes by Karbon is supported by funding from Homes England, through Karbon’s Strategic Partnership with the government’s housing delivery agency.