Pen has been put to paper on a deal which will bring 39 new affordable homes to a development being built in Wanborough. 

Housing association Cottsway will be providing the homes after signing a contract with developers Bellway Homes and Vistry Group, who have been working on the new Redland Grove site for the last several months. 

This will form part of the larger New Eastern Villages expansion which will in time see 8,000 new homes built to the east of Swindon.

There will be a mix of two, three and four-bed houses - 20 for affordable rent and 19 for shared ownership. 

Colin Bloodworth, Cottsway’s assistant director of development and assets, said: “These new homes will provide much-needed affordable housing in the area.

"To help address the shortage of accessible housing, two of the new properties are being built so that they can be adapted for wheelchair users, with features including flush flooring throughout, wider doorways, ramped entrances and ground-floor bathroom and toilet. Space will also be allocated for provision of a lift if needed at a future date.

“Work is underway on site and we expect the first of our properties to be completed at Redlands Grove by next spring, with the remainder of the homes ready to move into later in 2023.”

These new properties are part of a much larger development that includes open spaces for recreational use.

The first phase of the development currently has outline planning permission for 370 homes on the site – 20 per cent of which must be affordable housing.

Rachel Way, sales manager for Bellway South West, said: “At Bellway we pride ourselves on being a responsible housebuilder which caters to a range of buyers. Our Redlands Grove development will see us build a collection of two, three and four-bedroom homes, including 84 homes for private sale, and 16 affordable properties.

“It will be a proud moment to be able to hand over the affordable properties at this development to Cottsway and we look forward to working alongside them to help with the delivery of these homes as the development takes shape.

“Alongside Vistry Group, the wider scheme will invest £5.3 million into services in the local area, including a new primary school and secondary school, as part of the planning agreement.

"Work started on the development at the start of this year and continues to move forward at a good pace, while we are expecting the first completions in spring 2023.”

Further details of the new homes will be made available closer to the time of completion.