Work has officially begun at Swallow Fields, the new development from Barratt Homes North Thames in Hemel Hempstead.

Site Manager Michael Cassidy and Sales Manager Suzanne Harris were at the development on Three Cherry Trees Lane to mark the start of work. 357 homes will be built at Swallow Fields featuring a range of two, three and four bedroom homes. The work at the development will also underpin 714 jobs.

Swallow Fields is the housebuilder's latest development in Hertfordshire, joining Madden Gardens in Letchworth and Liberty Rise in Hertford. The new homes are being built on public sector land owned by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Ian Sadler, Managing Director at Barratt Homes North Thames, said: “It is an exciting time for us in Hertfordshire. Work is now underway at Swallow Fields and we are looking forward to seeing the development take shape over the next few months. We will be building a variety of homes and we are pleased our work will support the area by underpinning over 700 jobs.”

Dan Myers, Senior Area Manager at the HCA, said: “It is great to see work starting at Barratt's Swallow Fields development. Unlocking public sector land to create more homes and jobs is core to what we do, so working with Barratt will facilitate our ambition to help Government unlock enough surplus public sector land to have a strong and positive impact on housing delivery in England.”

Swallow Fields is ideally located for travel into London and direct services from the train station in Hemel Hempstead to London Euston take just 36 minutes. The M1 is also easily accessible, just one and a half miles from the development.

A selection of two and three bedroom homes will be available to buy soon. For more information about Swallow Fields visit www.barratthomes.co.uk. Alternatively, please call the sales information line on 0844 8117171 for further details. The line is open Monday to Friday 8am-9pm and Saturday to Sunday 8am-8pm.

Barratt Homes has been awarded the maximum five star official rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the sixth year in a row. The company was awarded the rating after gaining fantastic feedback in the HBF customer satisfaction survey which involved more than 20,000 new home buyers across the country answering questions about moving into their new homes.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

1)    For further information about Barratt Homes North Thames, media should please contact Hannah Elwell, Director of PR or Laura Payne, PR Account Executive on 0116 247 1777 or hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or laura@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2)    Barratt Homes is part of Barratt Developments PLC, a FTSE100 company

3)    Barratt Group sold 16,447 homes in the year to June 2015, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain

4)    Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the sixth consecutive year in the 2015 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey

5)    Site managers working for Barratt Group won 81 awards for quality workmanship in the 2015 NHBC Pride in the Job Awards.  Barratt has won more Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for the last eleven years

6)    Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to provide a five year warranty to the first owner or purchaser direct from the company of its new build homes, on the fixtures and fittings installed at the time of purchase