Foundation Stone Laid for the UK’s Largest Council-Led Housing Project
A new green community begins at One Horton Heath, Eastleigh
A new era of placemaking has officially begun at One Horton Heath as Councillor Keith House joined Eastleigh Borough Council’s housebuilding division, eastbrooke homes, and contractor, Wates, to lay the foundation stone for the development’s first homes. With 381 properties already under construction on the Lower Acre site, this event marks a major milestone in one of the most ambitious council-led housing projects in the country.
One Horton Heath is more than a housing development - it's a bold new community built on sustainable values, with infrastructure delivered first and homes that are designed to evolve with residents’ needs.
Over the past six years, Eastleigh Borough Council has shaped this vision around accessibility, quality, and long-term community value. Key features of the wider 2,500-home plan include:
- A new primary school
- Local centre and allotments
- Playing fields and sports facilities
Energy-efficient technology - Sustainable urban drainage
- A new link road to support connectivity
- One-third of the development kept as open green spaces
Councillor Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, said:
“We are proud to be building the first homes of all tenures, including homes for sale, rented accommodation, shared ownership and affordable/ social housing, and the council partnering with Wates is the key driver for the first few homes built and occupied, and hopefully part of a long partnership.”
Lee Bushell, Managing Director at Wates Residential, added:
“We’d like to thank the whole team for their hard work, commitment, and collaboration to get to this point.
The project represents a significant milestone in bringing much-needed housing to the Eastleigh area, which is not only affordable, sustainable, and energy-efficient, but also what people want.
It’s not just about construction, it’s also about the new jobs this project brings, and recruiting locally is high on our joint agenda.
We are really proud of this community-focused project and can’t wait for the new families and residents to move in.”
eastbrooke homes, in partnership with Wates, is currently building the first 381 homes on the Lower Acre site — a key part of the Council’s plan to provide more than 2,500 high-quality homes at One Horton Heath.