Nestled between Welwyn Garden City to the north and St Albans directly to the west, Hatfield is a town and civil parish in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield, within Hertfordshire. Hatfield is a historic town centre with origins dating back to Saxon Britain, and was revitalised in the mid-twentieth century as one of the New Towns, a result of the 1946 post war New Towns Act. As such, the housing stock in the Hatfield area is varied; from large country manors with significant acerage, to mid-century modernist blocks, with ample development room!

Hatfield’s recorded history is dated back at least a thousand years ago, to King Edgar in 970 AD, when the King granted the land to the monks of Ely, an abbey founded in 672 AD by St Etheldreda. It was then recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book survey for William the Conquerer, where it was written as ‘Hetfelle’. The bishops of Ely owned the land from 1066 until Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, when the land then came under direct ownership of the crown. There Hatfield Manor (now known as Hatfield House) became a palatial royal residence, with an especially strong connection to Queen Elizabeth the I. After some exchanges in the 1600s, the manor then came under ownerships of the Cecils, or Marquesses of Salisbury who still owns the property today.

Most of the suburban development of Hatfield occurred alongside the development of Hatfield House, up until the 20th century. Following the aftermath of the WWII, there was a desperate shortage of adequate housing in Britain. The government then passed the landmark New Towns Act of 1946, which granted government rights to develop new towns on fresh land, or to develop historic towns that serve as vital commuter belts. Hatfield was one of those towns, and the Hatfield new town, which sits to the south, maintains its mid-century modernist architectural character.

Despite its ancient roots and contemporary modernist architectural identity; there is ample room for development within Hatfield. There are, currently, multiple listings on offer especially targetting potential developers for large-scale housing units. The Welwyn Hatfield Local plan 2016-2036, has strived to produce a varied housing market ranging from the affordable to the luxury; and this is thoroughly reflected in Hatfield’s current housing market!