Horam

Status: Approved

Number of homes: 20

Site size: 0.8 hectares

Local authority: Wealden District Council

We’d really appreciate your support

If you like the idea of Custom and Self-Build in Horam please sign up to the local Self-build and Custom Housebuilding register.

Read our response to the most frequently asked and important questions raised during public consultation.

The village of Horam is in the Weald of Sussex, once part of a vast forest of 1,700 square miles situated between the North Downs and South Downs of southeast England. It’s home to the Sussex Farm Museum, several sports clubs, a camp site, two churches, and even a vineyard. The old railway line through the village is now a pedestrian, cycle, and horse riders’ path known as the Cuckoo Trail, which provides a link through the village and to the neighbouring towns and countryside.

Our site is at the southern end of Horam, adjacent to more recent development, opening out on to the beautiful Sussex countryside.

We’re working with the landowner, multi-award winning architect Pollard Thomas Edwards, and planning consultancy Rural Solutions on a proposal for 20 new Custom and Self-Build homes, including eight new affordable homes. Landscape design is by Collington Winter and includes ecological enhancements and new native trees and hedges. To ensure that the habitat is further improved for wildlife and local biodiversity we are introducing new native flowering and nectar producing species, erecting bird boxes, and creating hibernacula (eg log piles) within the woodland which is protected from the new buildings by an ecological buffer zone.

The proposal

In Horam, we want to create a legacy of high-quality, affordable, and sustainable homes.

Our proposal will:

  • Deliver up to 20 new homes, including seven affordable homes that increase housing choice in the town and enable people to build beautiful, efficient homes that meet their needs
  • Be designed to be sympathetic and complimentary to the existing rich character
  • Enhance existing hedgerows and woodland and introduce new native species increasing local biodiversity
  • Improve drainage on site through sustainable and attractive landscape features such as ponds and swales
  • Respond to the climate emergency with environmentally sustainable new homes and landscape
  • Positively contribute to local life by encouraging residents to be actively involved in their neighbourhood.

We want to hear from you

If you have any questions about the scheme or would like to provide your feedback, please get in touch via the Contact us section of our website.

If you’d like to register your interest in this, or any of our projects, please fill out a form here.

We consulted on our proposals in October 2020; you can still download our public consultation material here and read our response to the most frequently asked and important questions raised.

If you want to find out more about Custom and Self-Build in the area, follow the link below to sign up to the register to get notified when plots become available.