Town centre housing plans will bring more affordable homes to Bracknell, council leaders said, as they agreed to push on with a new development

Some 40 new homes could be built on a patch of land just south of Bracknell train station – the latest project of a partnership between Bracknell Forest Council and developers Countryside Properties.

The council’s Executive Committee – its leading body of councillors – signed off on the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday, September 19.

Council leader Mary Temperton hailed the plan’s aim to include a minimum 25 per cent of affordable homes in the development – with ambitions for much more.

She said: “The policy of this administration is to increase the amount of affordable homes available and this gives us a really good opportunity.”

And councillor Megan Wright, who is responsible for housing, said: “As Executive member for housing I can say that we as a council welcome any initiative to address housing shortages in the borough.”

READ MORE: Plans for more Bracknell town centre housing revealed

If the plans go ahead, the homes – a mixture of flats, homes and possibly shops – would be built on the current site of a car park on Old Bracknell Lane West.

It would be next to the site of the Coopers Hill housing development – another major project of the partnership – and the 349 home Bracknell Beeches, which is nearing construction.

Plans say that up to 100 per cent – and a minimum of 25 per cent – of the homes would be marketed as “affordable".

This means they would be let by housing associations, with rent capped at Local Housing Allowance rates which are used to calculate housing benefits paid to tenants of private landlords.

They also say the development would be a “benchmark for high quality housing and a “beacon” for sustainable housing.

Councillor Temperton said that if the council didn’t opt to build the homes itself, it would have to sell the land to a private developer.

She said: “The alternative on this paper says we sell the land and if we sell the land we’ll have no control whatsoever on the development that we could actually have.”

Developers still need to work on more detailed plans before applying for planning permission – which council officers expect will happen in March 2024.

The plans are the third major project of the collaboration between Bracknell Forest Council and Countryside Homes, known as the Bracknell Forest Cambium Partnership.

The other two are Coopers Hill, and the 169-flat Market Street development currently under way.