The number of new affordable homes enabled by Stroud District Council has doubled in the past year

The council plays a key role in working with partners to facilitate much-needed new affordable homes for rent and shared ownership, and usually runs at an average of 120 per year.

However in 2021/22 the council has had its best year of affordable housing completions - 245. These are mostly completions with housing association partners and represent a mix of housing sites such as Great Oldbury at Eastington, and more rural sites such as Chalkwood at Chalford.

Affordable housing, which can be for either rent or sale, is for those whose needs are not met by the market. It includes different tenures, including social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership, among others.

In rural parishes which are unlikely to be suitable for a large-scale development, the council works with Gloucestershire Rural Housing Partnership to identify opportunities to enable affordable homes for households who might otherwise have to move away from their local area.

Tackling housing needs on a variety of fronts, such as increasing the supply of affordable homes of all tenures, forms part of the Council Plan which maps out the council's priorities up to 2026.

Stroud District Council housing committee chair Mattie Ross said: "Each of these new homes represents an affordable, energy efficient home made available to a household in need."

Deputy chair Lucas Schoemaker added: "It is testament to the many years of hard work that goes into drawing up planning policies and working with partners and communities to make sure that homes are delivered where they're needed."

Separately, the council is also the only Gloucestershire local authority which owns and manages its own council housing stock, more than 5,000 homes.