Two Rivers Housing and Eastington Community Land Trust (ECLT) have been granted planning permission to build 31 affordable homes at Homegrounds in Eastington near Stonehouse.
Eastington Community Land Trust was set up by residents to help tackle the lack of affordable housing in the village. Concerned for the future of their families who were struggling to find suitable housing in the area, the ECLT aims to meet local housing need while limiting further development in the parish.
Having successfully built 23 affordable homes at its Claypits site in 2020, the ECLT is now partnering with Gloucester-based housing association, Two Rivers Housing to build a further 31 homes at its Homegrounds site. Working together, they have secured planning permission from Stroud District Council to build a mix of flats and houses that will help local families find an affordable home in the area.
The new development will provide 21 homes for social rent and 10 for shared ownership in a rural area where affordable housing is desperately needed.
On hearing the news that planning permission had been granted, Terri Hibberd, Development Manager at Two Rivers Housing, said: “This is great news for families in Eastington where access to affordable housing is limited. Rural areas like this are in desperate need of new homes, but it can be a difficult balance between preserving the character of the village and ensuring that there are enough places for people to live.
“Working with organisations like the ECLT helps ensure that developments like this are done with and supported by the local community whose friends and families will ultimately benefit from the new homes we are building together.”
Tom Morrison, Chair of the Eastington Community Land Trust added: “Over the last 10 years or so we’ve worked hard to ensure that Eastington remains a thriving rural community. Through projects like this one we can meet the housing needs of local people, while protecting our greenspaces and the rural character and charm of the village.
“Gloucestershire-based Two Rivers Housing is the perfect partner for our second project. They are a local housing association with experience in building for rural communities and we believe that their knowledge, experience, and commitment to increasing the availability of affordable homes in their communities is a great fit for our second project.”
Two Rivers Housing currently manages more than 4,000 homes in Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas. In 2018, it committed to building 1,000 new affordable homes for the communities it serves by 2028 and has delivered more than 600 homes since making that pledge.
Now that planning has been granted, Two Rivers Housing will look to appoint a contractor and hope to start work on site in the summer of 2024.
