162 affordable homes to be delivered at Orbit Homes’ largest ever fully affordable development in the East

Leading affordable housebuilder, Orbit Homes, is continuing its drive to deliver quality affordable homes with plans to bring 162 homes to its new fully affordable development, Harolds Gate, in Harleston, Norfolk.

Harolds Gate will be the largest fully affordable development from Orbit Homes in the East to date and will include 73 new homes for social rent and 89 available for Shared Ownership.

All homes at Harolds Gate are planned to include Air Source Heat Pumps as standard and will feature Orbit Homes’ sector-leading house designs, which have been matched against the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Safer by Design framework.

The scheme will be designed with sustainability at its heart, supporting Orbit Group’s biodiversity commitment to enable nature’s recovery in 30% of its outdoor spaces by 2030, and will include public spaces, a children’s play area and connecting footpaths to new and existing walkways.

Harolds Gate will also include at least one nature positive feature for every new home built, as part of Orbit Homes’ commitment to ‘Homes for Nature’, a five-year initiative from the Future Homes Hub dedicated to increasing wildlife on all new developments. Homes for Nature measures include bird nesting boxes, hedgehog highways and nature friendly planting.

The development will feature a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom houses and two and three-bedroom bungalows. Construction is set to begin in late summer 2025.

Ray Winney, Regional Managing Director for Orbit Homes in the East, commented: “We are delighted to announce plans for our largest fully affordable development in the East to date at Harolds Gate, which highlights our commitment to investing in the delivery of quality new affordable homes across the region.

“Harolds Gate also reflects our passion for maximising our positive social and environmental impact, and we are excited to see this site progress into a sustainable community where we can help wildlife thrive and provide better and more local access to nature for our customers.”

Harolds Gate is situated in Harleston, a historic market town on the Norfolk-Suffolk border in the heart of the picturesque Waveney Valley, where residents can enjoy a choice of restaurants, takeaways, pubs and independent shops as well as essential local facilities.

Orbit Homes was recently awarded the 5-star housebuilder accolade by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the second year running, in recognition of its customer satisfaction and property quality. The 5-star rating is the highest possible accolade awarded by the HBF and means over 90% of Orbit Homes customers would recommend them to a friend.

For more information about Harolds Gate, visit: www.orbithomes.org.uk/harolds-gate