Proposals to build 18,000 homes across Cotswolds

Plans have been announced to build 18,000 new homes across the Cotswolds to help hit government targets.

Cotswold District Council has selected 10 strategic sites where it wants to see 17,918 homes built by 2043 as part of its new and updated Local Plan.

Land at Moreton-in-Marsh, Mickleton, Siddington, Cirencester, Driffield, and Fairford is being included among the sites being considered for more than 350 homes.

A public consultation on where to build the homes will take place in August and September, subject to council approval.

If approved by councillors, Cotswold residents will get to have their say during a six-week consultation from 24 August to 5 October 2025.

More than 11,000 of the homes could be built across 10 sites.

The largest of the "strategic" sites - which means developments of more than 350 homes - would be at Moreton-in-Marsh, where 2,217 homes could be built.

The other strategic sites include:

• Down Ampney: 1,658 homes
• Preston: 1,368 homes
• Mickleton: 1,238 homes
• Fairford: 1,141 homes
• New settlement south of Driffield: 1,090 homes (with the potential for more development in the longer term beyond 2043)
• Kemble: 1,020 homes
• Cirencester: 613 east of Kingshill Lane
• Cirencester: 585 homes south of The Steadings (with the potential for more development in the longer term beyond 2043)
• Siddington: 372 homes

Some of these sites would encompass new schools, green spaces, local centres, and Gypsy and Traveller sites.

It is planned for 420 homes to be built by 2031 and, while 80% of the district falls within the Cotswold National Landscape, 95% of the proposed development would take place on land outside of it.

The council said the complete draft has been designed "to deliver more affordable and smaller homes, protect the Cotswolds National Landscape, and give communities far greater certainty against speculative, piecemeal development".

Council leader Mike Evemy said that without a Local Plan, the council would have less influence over where homes are built and the quality of developments.

"These are difficult choices, but avoiding them would not protect the Cotswolds," Evemy said.

"This is a plan we can stand behind. It is rigorous, it is considered, and it offers the best route to take control of our district's future.

"It will deliver the affordable homes, jobs and services our communities need. It will protect the landscapes, heritage and character that make the Cotswolds such a special place to live and visit.

"And it will ensure we play a bigger role in tackling the climate crisis, while lowering energy bills through efficient new homes."

The proposed plan will be debated by councillors in August before being submitted to the Secretary of State for the December deadline ahead of an independent examination by a planning inspector during 2027.

Adoption of the Local Plan is expected around March 2028, the same month Cotswold District Council will cease to exist under local government reform.

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