Construction of the first phase with detailed planning consent, comprising 74 homes, is now expected to start in early 2022.

In total around 700 homes will be built, together with 25,000 square metres of commercial space, new school and community facilities on the 54-acre site.

Nearly a third will affordable housing and are being delivered through a public/private partnership approach with Homes England.

The group signed a development agreement with Homes England, which has a majority interest in the site, in April 2020 and will acquire the land in phases over a five-year period.

Chief Executive Stephen Wicks said: “Inland Homes has once again demonstrated its skill and tenacity in securing planning consent on complex challenging sites to deliver the much-needed homes England needs.

“The granting of this planning consent at Gardiners Park Village means we can now begin to transform what has been a vacant, brownfield site for the past 40 years, into a thriving new community.”