Best Starter Home What House? award for Woodgate

Woodgate in Pease Pottage – the flagship joint venture development by Thakeham and Abri – has been awarded the Bronze prize in the Best Starter Home Scheme category at the prestigious What House? Awards 2021.

Best Starter Home Scheme

Known as the Oscars of the housebuilding industry, the awards celebrate the best new homes across the UK. In the competitive Best Starter Home Scheme category, Woodgate took the Bronze prize for their outstanding delivery of a sustainable new community with fantastic amenities, accessible to purchasers at every price point. The panel of judges commented that ‘Woodgate is the stuff of dreams for first-time buyers who spent lockdown longing for space, community and open air.”

Homes at Woodgate

Rob Boughton, CEO at The Thakeham Group, said:

We are incredibly proud of the thriving, diverse community that Woodgate is becoming. It was crucial for us from the outset that this was a new village for everyone who wanted to live here, whatever their need or aspiration. We’re therefore especially thrilled to win a prize in the Best Starter Home Scheme, which recognises our work – along with our partner Abri – in providing excellent homes for first-time buyers.

Comprising a variety of homes in a countryside location, showcased under two brands to suit a variety of buyers, Woodgate has something for everyone. Alphium, the newest brand from The Thakeham Group, is delivering its first collection of contemporary one and two-bedroom apartments and two and three-bedroom houses at Woodgate. These modern homes – comprising practical design and open living spaces – provide the perfect solution for first-time buyers and second-steppers. A selection of shared ownership apartments and houses by Abri are also available.

In addition, delivered under the Thakeham brand is a collection of elegant two, three, four and five-bedroom family houses and – rare for a new-build development – a suite of bungalows. More traditional in design and layout than the Alphium homes, the current phase of properties benefits from classical design choices, a high specification and echo the Sussex vernacular. The next phase of homes, inspired by modern Scandinavian architecture, will add yet another design dimension to Woodgate.

Creating a community

Woodgate is a new country community within easy reach of the extensive amenities in Crawley (three miles) and historic Horsham (seven miles). A state-of-the-art new primary school opened at Woodgate in September, and future amenities will include a community hub and café, together with a community-managed village shop. Extensive open space will include a new village green with surrounding play areas, trails, pathways and cycle routes linking the development to the 370-acre Tilgate Forest.

Transport links are excellent. Fastway bus services directly link Woodgate with Three Bridges station, Crawley and Gatwick. From Three Bridges, fast trains run directly into London Bridge (35 minutes), Blackfriars (41 minutes) and London Victoria (40 minutes). The M25 is a ten-minute drive away, and it is just 45 miles to London.