Oakfield Swindon welcomes local member of parliament, Heidi Alexander  

Oakfield, Swindon, a sustainable neighbourhood delivered by igloo in partnership with Nationwide Building Society celebrated a milestone recently, as GreenSquareAccord (GSA), one of England’s largest housing associations, handed over the keys to 71 new energy-efficient affordable homes.  

To celebrate this milestone, local MP Heidi Alexander was invited to meet some of the latest arrivals who have found their new home within the Oakfield community.  

All homes at Oakfield have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of A, achieved through fitting photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity and are heated by air source heat pumps instead of gas boilers.  

The £60 million Oakfield project was designed by Metropolitan Workshop and PRP architects and is being delivered by Nationwide Building Society and B-Corp development partner, igloo Regeneration.  We worked closely with the local community to shape the planning, delivery and design of the neighbourhood. As a result, the project secured planning permission without any objections and has already won several awards, including the Housing Design Awards in the ‘building for a healthy life’ category.  

John Long, Executive Director at igloo said: “We worked closely with Nationwide, the design team and the local community to develop the plans for Oakfield and we are really proud of what has been achieved here. With 30% of the scheme allocated to affordable housing, it was important to us that these properties were spread well around the scheme to maximise choice, and of the same high quality as the 70% of homes for private sale. Now that the remaining residents are moving in, the neighbourhood will really start to come to life, and we look forward to seeing the community thrive.” 

Jess, a GSA customer who recently moved into Oakfield said: “I have really struck lucky with my new home. It is a great living space surrounded by trees and green open space with a very welcoming community. This is the first time I have lived away from home, so I was nervous to begin with but now I am feeling settled and secure.” 

When complete, the neighbourhood will provide a total of 239 homes – 71 of which are earmarked for affordable housing and are now occupied by GSA customers.   

We are so proud of Oakfield and the work we have done with our partners to deliver a well-connected, sustainable, Community-focused neighbourhood with plenty of private and shared outdoor space for residents to enjoy.

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