Tewkesbury Borough Council has granted planning permission for Barratt Homes to build an additional 144 new homes in Innsworth, as part of the wider Whittle Gardens development.

The housebuilder said the scheme will be made up of a range of properties including 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes. Forty nine of the houses and apartments will be designated as affordable housing.

Areas of open space and sport pitches are also said to be planned for the site, which sits on land north of Innsworth Lane. Groundworks are due to start in later this summer, with the first homes ready to move into by the end of 2022.

Andrea Pilgrim, sales director for Barratt Homes Bristol, said: "We are incredibly pleased to have been granted planning permission to provide much needed new homes in this lovely suburb of Gloucester. We are sure Whittle Gardens will create yet another great community, where residents can enjoy both the surrounding countryside and the historic city of Gloucester.

"Whether you are looking to start and raise a family, downsize, work from home or escape the big cities, Whittle Gardens has the home for you."

House sales continued to rise last month according to HMRC, as the number of new home transactions rose 1.3 per cent to 109,210.

This figure is only 5.1 per cent lower than in May 2021, when the stamp duty holiday was in full swing, showing that there continues to be an underlying supply and demand gap that is fuelling developers to build more new build homes across the country.