Wiltshire housing association to build 1,700 affordable homes

The South West-based not-for-profit housing association is pressing on with plans to build more affordable and energy-efficient homes by 2034 with support from Lloyds Bank.

Selwood Housing aims to deliver up to 150 new homes each year across its core areas in Wiltshire, Mendip, and Bath & North East Somerset.

The towns being targeted are:

• Calne
• Chippenham
• West Lavington
• Frome
• Malmesbury
• Melksham
• Radstock
• Trowbridge
• Warminster
• Wells

Other locations will be added in the future.

Mark Mayler, Group Finance Director at Selwood Housing, said: “Our commitment to supplying affordable and sustainable housing to help revitalise our local communities remains at the heart of everything we do.

“Lloyds Bank has backed our vision from the very start and this latest support will ensure we can continue to make a real difference and tackle the housing challenge head on in the South West for many years to come.”

The Big Four High Street Bank has provided Selwood Housing with a £55m revolving credit facility, which allows it to access funding up to an agreed limit.

Valeriia Watts, Associate Director of Real Estate and Housing at Lloyds Bank, added: “The team at Selwood Housing recognise how important it is to build homes that can both help plug the housing gap in the coming years but are also fit for the future.

“We’re proud to support vital housing providers like Selwood Housing to help them reach their sustainability targets and give more people access to affordable housing.”

Selwood Housing was founded in 2001 and has more than 7,000 homes for rent and shared ownership across Bath, wider Somerset and Wiltshire.

The Trowbridge-based housing association is working to ensure that all of its homes reach the ambitious target of EPC C rating or above by 2030, ahead of the Government’s regulatory requirement of 2035, as part of its quest to achieve net zero by 2050.

Currently, 75 per cent of its 7,000 housing stock is EPC C rating or above, with more than 90 per cent of its new builds being built to a minimum rating of EPC B, which Lloyds Bank’s funding will also help to maintain.

The organisation is working towards reaching its sustainability targets by adopting a ‘fabric first’ approach in its development programmes, meaning it prioritises the energy efficiency of a property right from conception and through the design and development process, such as choosing suitable core materials for doors, walls and windows, to ensure it meets the necessary requirements.

Earlier this year, Selwood Housing completed work on six new affordable homes for social rent and three for shared ownership at Platinum Court in Studley Green on the site of the former John Bull public house.

Selwood Housing's Platinum Court development in Trowbridge. (Image: Selwood Housing)

It is now close to completing work on 18 new affordable homes for rent and shared ownership at McDonogh Court in Polebarn Road close to Trowbridge town park.

Selwood Housing's £4m investment, alongside a grant of £1.4m from Homes England, is helping to regenerate a derelict site in part of the historic conservation area of Trowbridge.

The new homes built by local developer Ashford Homes, which is also developing the nearby Courtfield House, will enable a complete transformation of the neglected site on Polebarn Road.

The abandoned buildings had attracted vandalism and anti-social behaviour, and a vast amount of rubbish had accumulated on the site over the years.

The site in Polebarn Road before work started on the McDonogh Court development. (Image: Selwood Housing)

McDonogh Court will offer 10 one-bedroom apartments, four two-bedroom homes and four three-bedroom homes, including 13 for social rent and five for shared ownership. 

Earlier this year, Lloyds Banking Group announced a new partnership with homelessness charity Crisis and called for one million new social homes to be built over the next decade.