Social Housing: £3.3m development handed over to Stafford and Rural Homes

THEfirst phase of a £3.3m affordable housing development in Staffordshire has been handed over to Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) by its development partner Housing Plus and selected contractor Thomas Vale Construction.
 
Karen Armitage, chief executive of SARH, said: “We have worked extremely hard with Housing Plus, Thomas Vale, Gnosall Parish Council and the local community to make this much needed development a reality and seeing the fantastic new homes ready to receive their first customers is the best possible reward.”
 
Of the 30 two to four bedroom homes being built at the site in Lowfield Lane, Gnosall, 13 are now ready for families to move in, of which 11 are for rent and two for shared ownership.

This story is part of a supplement on social housing, produced in association with Lloyds Bank. To read more and to download it as a PDF click here.  

Ursula Bennion, director of business development at Housing Plus, said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with Stafford and Rural Homes and Thomas Vale on this development. We are committed to working with our partners to build more affordable homes. This development is a prime example of how joined-up working on a local level can tackle the housing need whilst producing the very highest quality homes.”

To mark the arrival of the first tenants, the delivery partners were joined by representatives from the parish council and the Homes and Communities Agency to view the completed homes, which have been built on a rural exception site.

Roger Greatrex, chairman of the parish council, said: “This project is the result of a longstanding partnership between the Gnosall Parish Council, SARH, Housing Plus and Thomas Vale which has resulted in these lovely looking new homes which are a real positive for the village.”

The project, which has been supported with a £770,696 development grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, also includes the recently completed building of five new affordable rented homes and one shared ownership property, on Monks Walk, in Gnosall.

The remaining properties will be handed over later this year.

Glen Schofield, Housing Director at Thomas Vale Construction added: “Thomas Vale is extremely proud to be handing over these outstanding affordable homes to the customers of Stafford and Rural Homes.

“Throughout the construction of the homes we have worked with local supply chain partners from Gnosall and the wider Stafford area, to ensure the spend has been kept local.”