Rural Housing Week site visit to new Uffington homes
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A new development of affordable homes in Uffington, near Shrewsbury has been given the seal of approval by local parish councillors.
The Wrekin Housing Trust and developer Castlemead welcomed the councillors from Uffington Parish Council to view the new 10 home scheme at Canal Close during Rural Housing Week (11-17 July) which aims to shine a spotlight on rural housing issues and demonstrate how housing associations are helping to maintain a living, working countryside.
The Trust has worked closely with the local parish council to get this much-needed affordable housing development off the ground and the councillors, who are all residents of the village, were thrilled to take a tour and see it progressing. The Trust will be taking five of the properties to rent to local people, while five will be for low-cost sale.
Lynne Padmore, Chair of the Parish Council was joined for the site visit by Graham Lewis, Helen Booth and Roger Davies. Two of the properties will be rented by Helen’s daughters Amy and Laura, allowing them to move out of home and privately rented accommodation respectively, but stay in the village they grew up in. Lynne said: "This new development enhances our village. Thank you for liaising with our Parish Council throughout the build of this development; ensuring that the properties would be rented to people closely connected to our village. I have received many comments from residents who are also delighted with how the new homes look."
Steve Swann, Development Manager for The Wrekin Housing Trust said: “As can be the case with rural schemes it has taken a lot of work to deliver the new homes and we would like to thank the parish Council for their support and patience. It is fantastic to see these homes going to people with a real local connection, enabling them to either stay in or return to the village.”
Housing associations up and down the country are using Rural Housing Week as an opportunity to highlight the crucial role affordable housing plays in helping to maintain small rural communities and highlight their innovative solutions to rural housing problems.
More than one in five of England’s population live in rural areas but in some of these places only a fifth of the homes we need have been built over the last five years.
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “We have a huge opportunity to safeguard the future of our countryside to ensure our villages and market towns are living, breathing, dynamic economies with great jobs, great broadband and great places to live with new homes.”
“Housing associations like The Wrekin Housing Trust provide a place to live for local people who would otherwise be completely priced out, enabling them to live in the same place as their friends and family. I’ve been to many new developments in villages which have enhanced the aesthetics of the village – but even more importantly have enhanced the economic potential, the ability of young people to live where they grew up and raise families of their own.”
The Uffington development will be complete by the end of August and will have generated over £1.5 million to the economy, creating 12 jobs including 1 apprenticeship role.
15th July 2016