Homes England invests in link road to unlock new 5000-home community

Homes England is looking for a construction partner to deliver a 2km road scheme South West of Rugby to unlock a proposed new community of 5,000 homes.

Homestead Link Road (HLR) is the primary piece of highway infrastructure required to unlock the development – which will include primary and secondary schools, a new neighbourhood centre, 35 hectares of employment land and green infrastructure.

Working with Rugby Borough Council the road is described as a significant investment for Homes England to accelerate the delivery of homes, employment land and enabling infrastructure on the site.

The housing agency now aims to shortlist five firms to bid to construct the single carriageway road connecting the A426 (Rugby Road) with the B4429 (Coventry Road).

Homestead Link Road secured planning approval in March, a decision challenged by local campaign groups because work will remove a number of mature trees along the route.

Homes England said that the road will reduce issues with air quality and peak time traffic while also providing a 16-hectare landscaped green space corridor, creating a segregated buffer between the village of Dunchurch and Rugby.

Speaking back in March Ben Frodsham, Head of Planning and Enabling at Homes England, said, “This planning approval allows Homes England and its partners to deliver key elements of new road and drainage infrastructure early, and allow for the planting of new and replacement trees, hedgerows and habitats.

“This strategy helps us provide more certainty to the local community that we are positively responding to concerns raised at public consultation events.”

Construction of the HLR is scheduled to start in Summer 2025.