Bellway has secured planning permission to add six more homes to its Hare’s Leap development in Henham, increasing the total number of homes at the site from 45 to 51.

The additional homes will be built within the existing approved development footprint off Mill Road, where construction work began in December 2024. The new properties are planned for the eastern side of the development, opposite a children's play area that forms part of a larger public open space along the site's southern boundary.

The expanded scheme will include four homes for open market sale — three four-bedroom detached properties and one five-bedroom detached house — alongside two three-bedroom semi-detached homes that will be offered at discounted market value for eligible buyers under local authority criteria.

Designed to reflect the wider development's farmstead-inspired character, the homes will incorporate features including dark weatherboarding, chimneys, full-height bay windows and dormer windows. Each property will also include an electric vehicle charging point, private garden and garage.

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Greg Allsop, Sales Director for Bellway North London, said: "Henham is a popular village which offers a wide range of amenities including a shop, school and a pub, and which is well connected by public transport to Bishop's Stortford, Cambridge and London. Demand for high-quality homes in this location is therefore high. These six additional properties at Hare's Leap will help to meet this demand, including from local people seeking a low-cost route into home ownership.

"Crucially, the homes will be built within the previously approved residential layout, meaning there will be no extension of the development into the open countryside. In approving our application, planning officers at Uttlesford District Council accepted that our proposal represented an efficient use of land to deliver much-needed new housing in a sustainable location.

"The six additional properties will also be in keeping with the appearance of the wider development, which aims to create a new southern gateway to Henham inspired by the village's farmstead buildings. Construction work on The Farmhouse, a landmark five-bedroom detached property around which the development has been designed, is nearing completion and the first residents have begun moving into their homes."

The Hare's Leap development will also include more than six acres of parkland, featuring ponds, native woodland, hedgerows and wildflower grassland. The green infrastructure has been designed to provide accessible outdoor space for residents while supporting local biodiversity and wildlife habitats.