THE first homes on a former school site are to go on the market.

House-hunters will be welcomed this autumn to Porters Grove, which occupies the former Darwell Campus of St Leonards Academy.

Bellway Kent is building 158 homes on the 23-acre site off Darwell Close, with a sales cabin opening later this year, when the first homes will go on the market.

A further 52 affordable homes will be delivered within the development by Orbit Homes and will be available for local people through rent or shared ownership.

The Argus:

Mark Harrop, sales director at Bellway Kent, said: “There has been a tremendous amount of interest in these new homes already and we are anticipating that this will intensify when we welcome visitors on to the site for the first time.

“Porters Grove is in a gorgeous part of East Sussex and benefits from a stunning tree-lined location which will be evident to customers who come along to the development. 

“The site borders Dogkennel Wood – an area of ancient semi-natural woodland which is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation – and we are creating a 15-metre green buffer on the north of the site to protect this beautiful local asset.

“The development has been carefully designed to blend in with its surroundings and the varied choice of house types will be brought together by a unifying palette of building materials and design features. 

“Existing woodland and a pond will be retained on the south-west corner of the development and trees and hedgerow will be maintained wherever possible on the rest of the site.”

Porters Grove will feature a public open space, footpaths and children’s play areas.

All the homes for sale will have garages or space for parking as well as many visitor bays.