Award-winning housebuilder The Hill Group has completed the acquisition of Ickleford Mill, a 9.17 acre brownfield site close to Hitchin in North Hertfordshire, with the intention of delivering a high-quality residential development that will transform the disused former flour mill into a sustainable new community.

The land, which has been vacant for several years, was acquired from a private landowner through Savills Cambridge and has a gross development value of £33 million. Hill aims to submit proposals for 56 new homes, with 40% allocated for affordable housing comprising one and two-bedroom apartments, as well as two, three and four-bedroom houses for affordable rent and shared ownership. The private sale offering will comprise two to five-bedroom family homes, responding to local demand.

In line with Hill's design-led philosophy, the homes will be built to exacting environmental standards, incorporating air-source heat pumps, electric vehicle charging, cycle storage, and generous outdoor space for community amenities. The development is dissected by the River Oughton and surrounding green fields will be retained as publicly accessible open space, complemented by new landscaping and planting to achieve a biodiversity net gain in excess of 10%.

Hill will consult the local community as it develops more detailed proposals for the project, with a planning application targeted for submission in Spring 2026.

The site lies immediately north of Hitchin, benefitting from excellent connectivity to London and the wider region. Hitchin railway station offers direct services to London King's Cross in under 40 minutes, while the A1(M) provides strong road links across Hertfordshire and beyond. The scenic village of Ickleford itself offers a range of everyday amenities including local shops and schools, while Hitchin town centre is a thriving county hub for commerce and leisure.

Andy Hill OBE, founder and Group Chief Executive of The Hill Group, comments: “This is an important brownfield site for North Hertfordshire which presents an excellent opportunity to deliver much-needed, high-quality homes for the region. Our proposals will transform a redundant and neglected site into a sustainable new community with plenty of accessible green space. This acquisition further strengthens our presence in the county, where we are committed to working in partnership with local authorities to help meet housing demand and enhance the local area.”

The acquisition builds on Hill's extensive track record in Hertfordshire and the surrounding regions, further demonstrating Hill's commitment to investing in the region and delivering much-needed homes across a range of tenures. The company has delivered a number of significant developments in the county, including Millside Grange in Rickmansworth and Aspects just outside Stevenage, as well as ongoing regeneration project Nexus in Stevenage town centre.

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About The Hill Group

The Hill Group is a top 10 housebuilder* and one of the leading developers in London, the home counties, and the South. The company is renowned for its partnership ethos, specialising in the building of distinctive new places and communities where people want to live, work, and socialise.

In its 26th year, this family-run company has grown to establish itself as the UK's second-largest privately-owned housebuilder, with an impressive and diverse portfolio of projects ranging from landmark, mixed-use regenerations, and inner-city apartment developments to homes in rural communities. 

Employing over 950 people, the company operates from five strategically located regional offices including Bristol and Abingdon to help facilitate growth in the South West and the Midlands, with its head office based in Waltham Abbey, Essex. 

Hill completed more than 2,800 homes in the last financial year and has a development pipeline of over 32,000 homes, including 10,200 with planning consent. Around half of its portfolio is in joint ventures to deliver a range of mixed-tenure developments, reflecting Hill's commitment to partnerships with government, local authorities, housing associations, and private clients. 

Since the company was founded in 1999, Hill has won over 500 industry awards, including the esteemed title of WhatHouse? Housebuilder of the Year in 2015, 2020 and 2023. Most recently in 2024, Millside Grange in Croxley Green won The Standard's Homes & Property Award for Best Commuter Home.

Hill's dedication to delivering the highest quality homes and exceptional customer service has earned the housebuilder its 5-star status in the Home Builders Federation's annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for the past eight years. Hill is a registered developer with the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) and follows the New Homes Quality Code (NHQC), a new industry standard to ensure high-quality homes and an exceptional customer experience. With a score of 4.8 out of 5, Hill is also ranked as the number one housebuilder on Trustpilot.

In addition, Hill is donating 200 fully equipped modular homes to local authorities and homeless charities as part of a £15 million pledge through its Foundation 200 programme, launched in 2019 to mark Hill's 20th anniversary.

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For more information, contact The Oracle Group PR Agency on Tel: 020 8394 2821 or hill@oraclepr.co.uk

*The Hill Group was listed within the top 10 of the Top 150 UK Contractors and Housebuilders published by Building.co.uk in December 2024