Plans for our first new affordable housing development in the Forest of Dean have been given the go-ahead.

Forest of Dean District Council has granted us permission to build 36 new homes on the Southend Nurseries site on the southern outskirts of Newent; which will be the first site that we've developed ourselves in the district. All of the existing greenhouses and outbuildings will be demolished to make way for the new homes, all of which will be available to rent.

Development manager Ellen Copeland said: “We’re delighted to have been granted permission to this exciting new development. We already own more than 10,000 homes across Gloucestershire and are aiming to build a further 6,000 more in the county over the next eight years. This site represents a great opportunity for us to build modern homes that meets the local demand for affordable housing.”

Ecological work will take place this summer on the site, which has been empty for a number of years, before our development partners EG Carter start work to clear the site and start building the new homes later this autumn. Work on the new homes, which is being part financed with £1.3m of funding from Homes England, is due to be completed in early 2022.

With 100,000 people living in our 44,000 homes, we're one of the country’s largest housing associations. We were selected as one of Homes England’s strategic partners to deliver more affordable housing in 2019 and have a goal to build 12,000 new homes across the West Midlands and South West by 2028.