Residents are settling into their new homes after we completed a £12m affordable housing development in Worcestershire.

To celebrate the completion of the development councillors from Malvern Hills and Wyre Forest district councils were invited to have a look around the new homes in Astley Cross before the final customers moved in. We've built 57 homes on the site off of Pearl Lane on the outskirts of the village on a previously vacant piece of land. Our in-house construction team began work in March 2022 and the homes have been completed in phases, with the last of them handed over this month ready for customers to move into.

We've built a mix of maisonettes, bungalows and houses on the site to create a diverse and sustainable community. The development, which was part-financed with funding from our strategic partnership with Homes England, is a mixture of 38 social rent and 19 part-buy, part-rent shared ownership homes, all of which have already been let or sold. In addition to the homes, the development also includes a children’s play area and over the coming months we will create a wildlife area alongside the banks of a stream that runs alongside the site.

Regional development manager Rebecca North said: “We’re really proud of the homes we have built in Astley Cross with support from Homes England and it’s wonderful to see the residents settling into their new homes where they will hopefully live happily for many years to come.

“However, we know there is a shortage of affordable housing which affects people from all walks of life in cities, towns and rural areas. We’re committed to playing our part in addressing this and the completion of these homes is part of our strategy to build more affordable and sustainable high quality homes ourselves.”

Last year Neil Evans, our site manager at Pearl Lane, was named as one of the NHBC’s Pride in the Job award winners for his work on the site.

We are one of the country’s leading developers of affordable housing and in addition to the new homes at Pearl Lane we have also completed a development of 12 homes at Tan Lane in Stourport this month. We own more than 46,000 across the West Midland and West of England, including more than 1,600 homes across Worcestershire.