Bromford has started 171 homes off Old Gloucester Road, 114 of them affordable. The first are due in autumn 2027 and the whole site by winter 2029.

Building has started on 171 homes off Old Gloucester Road, on the west side of Cheltenham. Part of the site is the borough council’s old Arle Nursery, where it grew the bedding plants for the town’s parks and hanging baskets.

The housing association Bromford is building them. Two in three will be affordable homes, well above the minimum the planning permission requires.

The council published Bromford’s announcement on its own news page this week. (Cheltenham Borough Council; Bromford, 9 October 2026)

What is being built

The homes are phases 2 and 3 of the development. Phase 1, now called Springbank View, was finished in spring 2025 and has 85 homes, all affordable: 42 for social rent and 43 for shared ownership.

The new phases sit on two parcels of public land:

  • Phase 2: open land that belonged to Gloucestershire County Council
  • Phase 3: Cheltenham Borough Council’s former Arle Nursery, whose old buildings have now been demolished

Of the 171 homes:

  • 92 will be for social rent
  • 22 will be for shared ownership
  • 57 will be sold on the open market

That makes 114 affordable homes, or 67%. The planning application asked for “a minimum of 40% affordable housing”. The council granted it, subject to a section 106 agreement, on 3 February 2026, and the permission runs to 3 February 2029. (Cheltenham planning application 24/00449/FUL) Homes England, the government’s housing agency, has put money into the scheme.

Bar chart of the 171 homes in phases 2 and 3 off Old Gloucester Road by tenure: 92 for social rent, 22 for shared ownership and 57 for open market sale.
Chart by The Cheltenham Journal. Source: Bromford and Cheltenham Borough Council, 9 October 2026.
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What else comes with it

Bromford says the scheme will:

  • put more than £2.2 million towards local schools, roads, bus services and new play areas
  • plant 108 new trees
  • fit every home with an air source heat pump and solar panels
  • build a bridge over the stream between Springbank View and phase 2, joining the two up

The River Chelt runs along the northern edge of the site. Bromford says bat boxes and a bat hotel are already up. Work near the river and the stream is being managed to protect migratory fish that swim up from the Severn estuary.

When the homes will be ready

The first homes are due to be finished in autumn 2027. The whole development is due to be complete by winter 2029. By then the wider neighbourhood, with Springbank View, will have more than 250 households.

“Cheltenham desperately needs more homes that people can afford to live in, which is why this is so important to us as a town,” said Councillor Rowena Hay, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council.

Councillor Colin Hay, deputy leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said the development would “unlock valuable investment in local infrastructure and services”.

Amanda Swann, new homes regional director at Bromford, said: “Some will rent from us, some will buy a share and some will buy outright. But they’ll all be part of this new neighbourhood.”

What it means for you

  • If you want a social rent home, the council says all social housing in Gloucestershire is let through HomeseekerPlus, the countywide register. Registering takes about 30 minutes and does not guarantee a home. With the first homes due in autumn 2027, there is time to do it.
  • Shared ownership means buying a share of the home and paying rent on the rest. Bromford has not yet said when sales will open or what the prices will be.
  • If you live nearby, expect construction traffic off Old Gloucester Road for about three years. Planning conditions and the section 106 agreement are on the council’s planning register under 24/00449/FUL. Our Cheltenham planning news page tracks the town’s larger housing sites.

Sources