Keepmoat Homes has agreed a deal with the government’s housing delivery agency to build nearly 600 homes on the Ebbsfleet Garden City scheme.

The private equity-owned housebuilder bought a near-12ha site at Northfleet Embankment on the development in north Kent from Homes England for an undisclosed sum.

Doncaster-based Keepmoat will build 598 homes at a rate of at least 100 a year on the site, which will also feature community facilities, open space, a new primary school and a Fastrack bus route.