A NEW development providing 39 affordable rent and shared ownership homes has been official opened by Cottsway on former industrial land in Tetbury.

Cottsway’s Interim Chair Richard Purchase and Councillor Stephen Hirst, Tetbury ward member for both Cotswold and Gloucestershire County Councils, opened the event and welcomed the new residents.

Flowers were presented to one of those residents, Deborah McIntyre, who was living in a caravan before moving into her new one-bedroom Cottsway apartment. She said: “I feel truly blessed. It’s a lovely development and I’m so happy to be part of what I think is going to be a really good community.”

Vivian Rosser, Chief Executive of Cottsway, said: “There are over 1,875 households waiting for rented accommodation across the Cotswolds and there is limited access to private-rented housing which is expensive.

“Average house prices in Tetbury are eight times’ higher than the average £25,000 income for a couple in the Cotswolds, so for many purchasing a property is out-of-reach, with more than 660 people on the waiting list for shared ownership homes.

“It is clear that affordable homes are desperately needed and that is why it is so important that we are building new homes like those at Amberley Park.”

The Mayor of Tetbury, Councillor Sandra Ball, and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Kevin Painter, were among guests who gathered at Hatter Close.