[4] The housebuilding business that became Countryside Properties was founded in 1958 by Alan Cherry CBE,[5] who remained its chairman until his death in January 2010.

[8] Alan Cherry, a chartered surveyor, began his career as an estate agent and was one of the founding partners of Bairstow Eves.

One of the Bairstow clients was another developer, Countryside Properties, formed in 1958 by Solomon 'Bob' Bobroff, and in the late 1960s the two concerns began to work together.

A prominent investor, Paul Kemsley and Joe Lewis's Rock Properties, increased its stake to 28.5%, forcing Cherry to pay more for the company.

[14] In 2014 Oaktree acquired luxury home developer Millgate and merged it with Countryside, planning to double the company's size.

David Howell, previously a non-executive director, became chairman, whilst Ian Sutcliffe assumed the role of group chief executive officer.

[19] In January 2022, McPherson was ousted after disappointing trading figures for the first three months of the financial year to December 2021 showed operating profit more than halved at £28m from £60m previously, on revenue down 28% to £429m.

[20] in May 2022, Countryside was the target of a takeover bid by Inclusive Capital Partners (In-Cap), a San Francisco-based hedge fund.

[24] In September 2022, UK homebuilder Vistry Group offered a £1.24 billion cash and shares deal to acquire Countryside.

[25] The deal, backed by both boards and by five major shareholders at Countryside holding 39% of the company, will create one of the UK's biggest home builders with revenue of over £3bn.

As well as almost 2,000 homes in three separate 'hamlets', it has a primary school, church, community centre, doctors' surgery, supermarket, chip shop and village green.

As well as local greens and landscaped spaces for informal recreation, residents will be able to enjoy two large neighbourhood play areas designed for a range of age groups, several formal sports pitches and courts with changing, parking and social facilities.

Countryside are working in a joint venture with London & Quadrant to create a sustainable community on 850 acres in a highly accessible location between the A130 and the A12 at the Boreham Interchange.

[34] Greenwich Millennium Village Limited, a joint venture between Countryside and Taylor Wimpey, won a government-initiated competition in February 1998 to transform the former site of Europe's largest gas works into a sustainable new community.

[35] In 2008, Guinness Trust chose Countryside in 2008 as contractor for regeneration of the Loughborough Park Estate in Brixton, south London.

The report concluded that the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and gaps in fire breaks on external walls meant the development may not have complied with building regulations when built.