Nationwide Oakfield project Swindon: First look around new development

Since 2017, Nationwide Building Society has been working on the not-for-profit Oakfield Project estate off Marlowe Avenue.

The first phase will be complete by the summer, the park and community space should be finished by August 2024, and the last houses should be done by early 2025.

Show home host Jo Williams and Oakfield Project manager Nick Spittal from Nationwide (Image: Dave Cox)

One-bedroom apartments will be rented out by GreenSquare, and 168 of the homes will be privately owned.

Affordable housing will be built to the same specification as the rest of the development, with 71 of these properties scattered around the site.

Show home host Jo Williams oversees sales and will look after the new neighbours after they move into the one-to-four-bedroom homes from April.

A main bedroom in a house built as part of the Oakfield Project (Image: Newsquest)

She said: “We have had around 90 enquiries since first launching at the end of November, with lots of positive interest. Since the start of the year, there have been 25 viewings and two reservations.

“Oakfield is showing a stronger trend than any other development. I think people like that we’re putting a lot of thought into the design of each home.

“We’ve used local traders and businesses, and sourced art by local artists, to build and decorate the properties.”

A bedroom (Image: Newsquest)

Each of the 239 homes in the development is aiming for an EPC rating of A, with rooftop solar panels and back garden air source heat pumps supplying all the power.

The furniture has been made from upcycled material, all the roads will be lined with trees, a car-share scheme will be available, and there will be easy access to nearby bus stops and cycle lanes, as well as water butts and cycle stores in every garden and infrastructure to install electric car charging points.

A kitchen in an Oakfield Project house (Image: Newsquest)

Project manager Nick Spittal added: “The objective with this is to challenge, not follow. We wanted the houses to have a sustainable design so they look good for decades to come.

“Our members have pushed for us to do something like this. We lend a lot of money for people to buy houses so why not build some in our home town?

“The land was derelict and not attractive to traditional developers, so we spoke to the council about it.

The living room in an Oakfield Project house (Image: Newsquest)

“We changed our designs to respond to public feedback, upgraded the landscaping and block paving, and made every house look slightly different. There’s real attention to detail.

“To actually see it coming to life is amazing.”

One of the bathrooms in an Oakfield Project house (Image: Newsquest)

A rooftop terrace (Image: Newsquest)

There is enough space in the hallway for a home office (Image: Newsquest)

Each garden has a cycle store, a heat pump and a water butt (Image: Newsquest)