The first homes at the Westwood Lodge site in Poorhole Lane will go on sale this week.
Love Living Homes is launching its first collection of two, three and four-bedroom houses on February 23 at Westwood Acres.
Every property is available through shared ownership with prices starting at £73,750 for a 25 per cent share, with a five per cent deposit of £3,687.50 required for a two-bedroom house.
The development of 153 modular homes was approved in May 2021. An initial proposal for the site had been rejected by Thanet council in August 2015 but was approved on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate in February 2017.
However, former developer applicant Places For People Homes Ltd pulled out of the scheme and in 2020 Rooksmead Residential Ltd agreed terms with L&G Modular Homes on a revised set of proposals.
L&G Modular Homes made a series of amendments including moving new builds further away from the existing buildings and retaining more of the trees onsite. There have also been added habitat and biodiversity features as part of a ten year woodland plan.
The Westwood Lodge project is the third build by L&G in England with others in Yorkshire and Bristol, using modular homes built in Yorkshire and made to the highest energy performance standard. Using features such as solar panels and high-quality insulation within the fabric of the houses means properties attain an energy performance certificate rating of ‘A.’ The homes also use less water and have lower carbon emissions both during construction and when they’re lived in
The Grade II listed main house of Westwood Lodge, built in 1864, the 17th Century cottage and the gate piers remain intact on the site..
An extra 2.89ha of woodland has been retained compared to the first proposal, wildlife corridors, wildflower areas, hedgehog highways, a pond and swift, hedgehog and bat boxes are also included.
The new homes are flexibly designed to meet the needs of a range of residents. Some properties will provide contemporary, open-plan dining and kitchen areas, while others offer a more traditional layout.
Love Living Homes says 8,500 new trees will be planted and new woodland walks, a landscaped communal garden and green corridors created throughout the development.
With Shared Ownership at Westwood Acres means people can buy a share of a property between 10 per cent or up to 75 per cent of its full value.
A five per cent deposit is needed with a mortgage to cover the rest of the share and rent on the remaining share.
A household that earns £80,000 or less is eligible to use the scheme.
In 2020 Thanet Trees group demonstrated, dressed as zombies, against tree clearance at the site nd the possibility that it may have been a former medieval plague burial pit but a heritage study carried out as part of the application says this could not be confirmed.
To make an appointment with the sales team at Westwood Acres visit www.lovelivinghomes.co.uk/westwood-acres or call 01474 528285.
Westwood Lodge history
Westwood Lodge was built in 1864 as a holiday retreat for Spencer Herepath, a Kensington stockbroker whose firm specialised in South American Railway securities.
The architect is not at present known but there is speculation that it could have been Henry Winnock Hayward (1825-1893) who had built houses of a similar style in Phillimore Place, Kensington near Herepath’s London residence.
Herepath’s daughter Marion married Linley Sambourne, the celebrated Punch illustrator, in 1874. After Spencer Herepath died in 1884, Mrs Herepath lived there until the property was sold in 1893.
The next owner was Harry Rickards (1841-1911), a celebrated music hall artist who became a music hall impresario in both England and Australia. This was his English estate. By 1911 he was considered probably the largest single-handed music hall manager and proprietor in the world. Subsequent owners were the Farrell family. The property has been in continuous ownership by one family from 1948 until the present day. From 1929 the estate was used for farming and market gardening.
The entrance piers, gates and wall to Westwood Lodge were built circa 1865 in Gothic style.
The 17th century flint cottage is possibly listed as no 599 on sheet 2 of the Tithe Apportionment of 1838 for St Peter’s and Broadstairs, a house and garden owned and occupied by Mary Packer, connected with three arable fields. After 1865 it came into the same ownership as Westwood Lodge.
