User:Caatmie

Quantum Fields is a new residential estate in Littleport, Cambridgeshire. The construction started in 2022 and the project is now on sale, yet to finish in 2024. It is built as a rural housing development offering houses for the open market and affordable houses. Developed by Linden Homes, the entire development provides about 400 homes, covering two parts on west and east side of another development by Bovis homes. Both companies are affiliated to the Vistry Group.

Quantum Field follows the national surge of new housing developments in rural areas in the UK to deal with the housing shortage brought by mixed reasons. The average house prices in the UK kept increasing since 2009. Until August of 2023, the average house price was £291,000. The average price in East Midlands is about £40,000 below the national average. The Vistry is found to "shift its focus solely to social housing as soaring mortgage costs hurt sales completions across its wider business." As a result, the sales market of Linden Homes have slowed down now because many first-time buyers cannot make the deposit or mortgage.

The East Cambridgeshire District Council, under which Littleport is, has planned the work at priority of improving transport infrastructure such as the A10 line, which is a single carriageway connecting London to King’s Lynn while also linking Ely and Littleport. This improvement scheme aims to assuage existing problems: frequent traffic jams, incidents, constrained economic development, and negatively impacted communities near the highway. As increasing number of housing developments are to be completed along the A10, the traffic will become worse, so the improvement work on roads and local transport is a key part of council's coporate plan from 2023 to 2027. The main contribute to the grant for improving infrastructures comes from the community infrastructure levy (CIL) that is charged to new housing developments.

Location
The Quantum Fields is on Grange Lane in the south of village Littleport, about six miles to the north of Ely. It is beside the A10, through which Cambridge can be reached within one-hour by driving and King’s Lynn within 30 minutes.

Estate
The entire development has two parts on two sides of an existing development. The eastern part has 150 households including around 50 affordable housing units. About 44 properties are available on the Shared Ownership scheme, for a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes with 45%-75% share. These homes are due to complete in the winter of 2023.

House styles
All the houses are newly built in modern adaptation of the traditional style of the region. It has 11 home types: 5 four bedroom; 3 three bedroom; 3 two bedroom.

The construction follows the traditional brick and block method. Some houses are claimed by the developer to be built with finest bricks and natural stones, whereas not specifying which ones. Timber trusses are applied to form the ridge roofs. The main insulation materials in external brick walls and roofs are cellotex and rockwool. The divisions between two household in terraced houses and semi-detached houses are very discernible. It can be recognized through the vertical mortar line which is formed by the way bricks are stacked.

Some homes have fake window frames on the exterior. It is intentional facade design catering a planning requirement rsponding to the historical Window Tax. Likewise, the chimneys that come out of the roof are fake, made of fibreglass.

Community
To the east of the development has a private care home, Littleport Grange Care Home, which is run by a family-owned entity Minster Care Group. It mainly provides person-centered care in partnership with older people. Applications (15/01403/FUM; PP-04630550) to expand its site at Grange Lane for twenty bad care units had been approved on17 March 2016, whereas having faced objections from St. George’s Medical Centre. Across the street there is the Millfield County Primary School which was also granted permission to build a seven bay classroom, to be completed in August of 2024. (19/03000/CCA).

Some organisations, clubs and councils in East Cambridgeshire had suggested to "place bids for a share of £700,000 fund" for expanding or enhancing community infrastructures.