Developer’s later living arm Inspired Villages behind £120m Bedfordshire scheme

Legal & General has started on site at a £120m retirement village which it said will be its first net zero development.

Contractor Willmott Dixon will build the 200-home scheme, known as Millfield Green, in Caddington in Bedfordshire over four phases for L&G’s later living arm, Inspired Villages.

The development will use renewable energy generation through on-site photovoltaics, electric vehicle charging, mechanical heat vent recovery units and ground-source heat pumps supplied by heat pump manufacturer Kensa Group, which L&G took a significant stake in last year.

L&G Caddington (1)

Millfield Green will be built over four stages

The developer said that the net zero approach, which follows its commitment last year to make all of its residential accommodation operationally net zero by 2030, will help cut fuel costs for residents of the village.

The scheme will also include a restaurant, cafe, swimming pool fitness studio, gym, library and cinema room, with many facilities available for both residents and the local community.

Inspired Villages, which was set up by L&G in 2017, currently operates six later living schemes across the UK and said it plans to build a further 2,500 homes over the next six years. A seventh village, Ledian Gardens in Kent, is set to open this year.

Upcoming government regulations will ban gas boilers in new build homes from 2025 under the Future Homes Standard.

The news comes after Redrow said last month that it will start trialling infrared heating at one of its sites later this spring and could roll the approach out nationally to hit the government deadline.