Kennet Island is a housing development in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is situated halfway between Reading town centre and the M4 motorway. Part of the development is covered by a Government-backed initiative called My Choice Homebuy, aimed at giving first-time buyers a chance to get on the property ladder. Kennet Island is developed by St James, and the first properties were sold early 2007. It is still being heavily developed, and plans for the future include a new traffic circle allowing easier access from the A33 dual-carriageway onto the estate itself. The Kennet Island development is one of the reasons why Berkeley Group has been able to weather the 2008 recession. The development is expanding rapidly, with two more phases planned, the latter of the two coinciding with an expansion of Prudential plc, with new office buildings in a nearby industrial estate. In the central island of Kennet Island is where several water features are located.