These developments are located within the Southern Fringe of Cambridge and have achieved a thriving community feel, so how has this new suburb developed over this time and what remains in store? There are over 600 residents now living within the Southern Fringe developments. Street scenes have matured alongside the open spaces and the first primary school has joined the community. New developments take time to mature and soften, but as the machinery has moved onto new phases within each scheme, a real sense of living and community is evolving.
At Trumpington Meadows a large number of the proposed 80 ‘24 carat gold leaf’ bricks have already been set within a selection of homes within the development, acknowledging the crossover between old and new and the archaeological finds on the scheme. Whilst many of the first residents of these schemes took a slight ‘leap of faith’ when buying off -plan, as street scenes were in their infancy and no curtains were at any windows, many have benefitted already from a maturing development and a rising market.
Some of the very first residents have already witnessed capital growth between 20-30 per cent and expectations are that strong growth is set to continue as each scheme evolves, a factor coupled with the ever-present ‘Cambridge factor’.
With the volume of work that is undertaken on strategic development sites, prior to actual delivery of any houses, it must be quite refreshing for all those involved to see communities evolving, kids on bikes and in play areas and a much-needed housing supply being replenished with some inspirational designs in housing products.
As we approach the two-year anniversary for the Southern Fringe developments we still have much to look forward to over the next two years and beyond. A community health centre, a library, shops, transport hub and even allotments are all on the horizon together with a further supply of extensive cycle paths which will really establish this huge expansion for the city as a new suburb.
The Southern Fringe is already making its mark and it will be interesting to see how the sister expansion on the western side of Cambridge through the North West and Darwin Green developments evolve over the coming years.
