A house builder has acquired a trio of sites in Cornwall and Devon and is planning to build hundreds of “energy efficient” properties on the land.

Work will start later this month on the first of 274 new homes at Dudman Farm on the outskirts of Truro city centre. The development borders open countryside and will include a range of one to four-bedroom homes. More than one third of the development – Wain Homes’ first in Truro since 2013 – is designated as affordable.

At Liskeard, 202 new homes will be built on a large site at Tencreek Farm and will include one and two-bedroom apartments as well as two, three and four-bedroom houses. The scheme, called Lark View, will also include affordable housing.

In north Devon, at Yelland, the first homes are scheduled to be complete by spring next year. The Otter’s Reach development – in a nod to the presence of otters in the nearby River Torridge – will offer 80, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom homes.

As part of development agreements on all three sites Wain Homes will contribute around £3m towards to the local community through education, health and transport provisions, it said.

Mark Harding, land and planning director for Wain Homes, said: “All three sites fit our criteria to build homes in accessible and beautiful locations close to established communities and we continue to look for more opportunities to provide the spacious, energy efficient homes people enjoy.”

Steve Goldsworthy, managing director of Wain Homes South West, added: “Wain Homes has an excellent reputation for building high-quality new family homes in this part of Devon, having recently completed a successful development in Barnstaple and currently building popular new homes in South Molton, Lifton and Westward Ho!”

Wain Homes’ partners and advisers on the Dudman Farm scheme include AEQ; RLT Architects; GE; SLR; Tyler Grange; Swan Paul Partnership; Savills; Michelmores; and Carney Sweeney. Partners and advisers on the Tencreek Farm development include West Country Land; Emery Planning; Tyler Grange; AEQ; LHC Architects; Corum; Trowers & Hamlins.