All new homes
Rackheath Garden Village: what is built and what is planned
Two things share the name. New estates are already built on the edge of the village; Taylor Wimpey's plan for up to 3,850 homes to the north has outline permission and no homes yet.
Two different things get called Rackheath Garden Village, and only one of them has houses in it. The first is the new housing already built on the edge of the village, six miles north-east of Norwich. The second is Taylor Wimpey’s scheme for up to 3,850 homes on the land north of the village, which has outline planning permission but no approved house designs and no homes. A buyer in 2026 is buying into the first and will live next to the second for years.
The new building is already most of the market. HM Land Registry recorded 102 standard sales in Rackheath in the 12 months to June 2026, and 61 of them were new builds. The ONS estimates the parish grew from 2,147 people at the 2021 Census to 2,965 by mid-2024. Our Rackheath area guide covers the village as it is now, and our guide to new-build developments in Norfolk lists what is on sale across the county.
Prince’s Park and the new estates
Charles Church, part of Persimmon, has been building Prince’s Park off Salhouse Road (NR13 6PG), south of the older village. The development no longer has a sales page on the Charles Church website, so ask the developer directly whether any plots are left before you plan around it.
The Land Registry record shows what new houses in Rackheath sell for. New detached houses had a median of £402,599 over the year (34 sales) against £400,000 for older detached houses (25). New semis had a median of £317,500 (24 sales) against £285,000 for older ones (13), a premium of about 11%. So a new detached house costs about what an older one does, and a new semi costs more than a second-hand one.
For comparison, the UK House Price Index put the Broadland average at £313,407 in July 2026, up 2.9% on a year earlier, and the Norfolk average at £269,185. The index adjusts for the mix of homes sold, so it will not match the simple Rackheath medians. Even so, Rackheath’s new houses sell well above the district’s typical home.
North Rackheath: permission, not houses
The land north of the village has been earmarked for a new town for almost 20 years. In April 2008 Rackheath was shortlisted for the government’s eco-towns programme, with more than 5,100 homes proposed on farmland that was a Second World War airfield. On 16 July 2009 it was one of four eco-towns the government picked. In April 2011 the coalition government said only North West Bicester would be held to the full eco-town standards, and the programme stalled.
The site was later allocated as North Rackheath (GT16) in Broadland’s Growth Triangle Area Action Plan, which covers the growth area north-east of Norwich. The Greater Norwich Local Plan, adopted by Broadland District Council on 28 March 2024, did not replace those allocations, and at its preferred-options stage it proposed two smaller Rackheath sites for another 215 homes.
Taylor Wimpey submitted its outline application for Land North of Rackheath in March 2022 (Broadland reference 20220663) and ran a third round of public consultation in early 2024. Rackheath Parish Council now reports that outline permission has been granted. It allows up to 3,850 homes, with two primary schools, a secondary school, two local centres, employment land, sports pitches, allotments, a leisure centre and green space. Affordable housing is part of the scheme.
Outline permission settles the principle and the numbers. It does not settle what gets built or when. The house designs, street layouts and phasing all need reserved matters approval, phase by phase. Taylor Wimpey consulted on the first phase, 368 homes (136 in phase 1a and 232 in phase 1b), from 1 to 14 September 2026, and says it will submit the reserved matters applications to Broadland District Council in October 2026. No date for the first completions has been published. Anyone selling you “3,850 homes coming to Rackheath” is describing a permission, and today the North Rackheath site is fields.
For North Rackheath to be more than an outer suburb where everyone drives into Norwich, the schools, local centres and employment land need to arrive early in the build. The reserved matters applications will start to show whether they do.
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Getting around
The A1270 Broadland Northway is what makes Rackheath work for car commuters. It is a 12.4-mile dual carriageway round the north of Norwich from the A47 at Postwick to the A1067 Fakenham Road, fully open since 17 April 2018, and Rackheath sits near its eastern end. The drive into central Norwich along the A1151 typically takes about fifteen minutes outside the rush hour.
The Central Connect 5 is the village bus into Norwich. On weekdays it runs every 30 minutes through the day and hourly in the evening; the first leaves the village hall at 06:30 and reaches Castle Meadow at 06:53, and the last back leaves St Stephens Street at 22:20.
The nearest station is Salhouse, on the Bittern Line between Norwich and Sheringham. Trains call about once an hour in each direction on weekdays and take 11 to 14 minutes to Norwich, where the London Liverpool Street trains take an average of 1 hour 51 minutes, according to Greater Anglia.
Some sales material still mentions the Norwich Western Link. That road would run on the far side of the city from Rackheath, and it has no live planning application: Norfolk County Council withdrew the last one after Natural England objected over a colony of protected barbastelle bats. The council says it is still working with Natural England on a solution, but there is no route or opening date.
Schools
Rackheath Primary School on Willoughby Way (URN 120843) was rated Outstanding in every area at its Ofsted inspection on 16 July 2024. It had 214 pupils against a capacity of 210 on the Department for Education register and admits 30 children a year. With the parish growing this fast, a place is not guaranteed: apply through Norfolk County Council as soon as you have a moving date. Our Norfolk schools timeline guide sets out the admissions calendar. Ofsted now inspects schools with report cards instead of a single overall grade, so the school’s next report will look different from the 2024 one.
The primary feeds Broadland High Ormiston Academy on Tunstead Road in Hoveton, an 11 to 16 school with no sixth form. Ofsted confirmed it as Good after an inspection on 8 and 9 November 2022. It has 725 pupils against a capacity of 700. Thorpe St Andrew School and Sixth Form and Sprowston Community Academy both run to 18 and are nearer Norwich, but neither is Rackheath’s catchment school, so check admissions with the county council before you count on one. The two primary schools and the secondary school in the Taylor Wimpey permission do not exist yet.
Council tax, water and services
Rackheath is in Broadland District Council. The Band D bill for 2026-27 is £2,473.89, of which £150.81 is the Rackheath Parish Council precept; a Broadland parish with no precept pays £2,323.08.
Water comes from Anglian Water, whose temporary use ban (the hosepipe ban) has been in force since 11 July 2026 under section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991 and was still in place in late September. Our explainer on the Anglian Water hosepipe ban covers the exemptions.
Day-to-day services in the village are thin. There is one convenience store with a Post Office counter and Rackheath Pharmacy, both at 1 Bernard Close. For a supermarket you drive to Sprowston or to the Sainsbury’s superstore on Pound Lane in Thorpe St Andrew. There is no GP surgery in the village; Hoveton & Wroxham Medical Centre on Stalham Road in Hoveton takes registrations from the new development, and you should check which practice covers your address. The two pubs are the Sole and Heel and the Racecourse Inn, both on Salhouse Road, and Rackheath Industrial Estate off Green Lane West is the local employer. The Rackheath area guide has more detail.
Who should buy now
Buy in Rackheath this year if you want a recent house about fifteen minutes’ drive from Norwich, you have a child who could get into the primary school, and you can put up with years of building work to the north. Confirm the school place with the county council before exchange.
If what appeals is the garden village itself, with its own schools and centres, there is nothing to buy yet. Watch Taylor Wimpey’s reserved matters applications from October 2026 and the first sales launch that follows them.
If you want a village that stays a village, Rackheath is the wrong choice. Salhouse and Hoveton & Wroxham have stations on the same Bittern Line without a growth-area allocation on the doorstep. Our Norwich commuter suburbs guide compares the options around the city.
Housebuilders and land promoters working at Rackheath can advertise with us.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rackheath Garden Village being built now?
Only the smaller new estates, such as Charles Church’s Prince’s Park off Salhouse Road. Taylor Wimpey has outline permission for up to 3,850 homes north of the village, but the detailed plans for its first 368 homes are not due to go to Broadland District Council until October 2026, and no completion date has been published.
How many homes will Rackheath have when Growth Triangle is complete?
North Rackheath alone has permission for up to 3,850 homes. At its preferred-options stage the Greater Norwich Local Plan proposed two smaller Rackheath sites for another 215. There is no published completion date for either.
Which schools do children in Rackheath attend?
Rackheath Primary School, rated Outstanding on 16 July 2024, which is slightly over its capacity of 210. It feeds Broadland High Ormiston Academy in Hoveton, an 11 to 16 school rated Good in November 2022. The new schools in the Taylor Wimpey scheme have not been built.
What is the commute from Rackheath into Norwich?
About fifteen minutes by car outside the rush hour, or about 25 minutes on the Central Connect 5 to Castle Meadow. Trains from Salhouse run about hourly and take 11 to 14 minutes to Norwich.
Is the Norwich Western Link still going ahead?
Not on any published timetable. Norfolk County Council withdrew the planning application after Natural England objected over barbastelle bats, and it says it is still looking for a solution. The road would be on the west side of Norwich, not near Rackheath.
Are Rackheath’s new-build prices reasonable for Broadland?
They sit above the district average. New detached houses in Rackheath had a median of £402,599 in the year to June 2026 and new semis £317,500, against a Broadland average of £313,407 in the July 2026 House Price Index. Older semis in the village, at a median of £285,000, are the cheaper way in.
Sources
- HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Rackheath standard sales, 12 months to June 2026 (queried 24 September 2026); UK House Price Index, July 2026
- ONS 2021 Census and mid-2024 parish population estimate
- Taylor Wimpey, Land North of Rackheath development page; Broadland application 20220663; Rackheath Parish Council planning information
- Greater Norwich Local Plan, adopted by Broadland District Council 28 March 2024, gnlp.org.uk, and its Rackheath site-options paper
- Rackheath Primary School Ofsted report, inspection 16 July 2024, URN 120843; Broadland High Ormiston Academy Ofsted report, November 2022; Department for Education register; Norfolk County Council Schoolfinder
- Central Connect 5 timetable on bustimes.org and Greater Anglia’s Norwich to Sheringham timetable, checked 24 September 2026
- Norfolk County Council, Broadland Northway and Norwich Western Link
- Anglian Water hosepipe restrictions page, checked 24 September 2026
- Broadland District Council 2026-27 council tax charges
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