Multi-million pound Shropshire village housing development complete
A £3 million development of affordable homes has been officially opened in Shropshire village.
The scheme of 13 homes in Chirbury welcomed its first new tenants following six years of work to bring the project to fruition.
Shropshire Rural Housing Association has worked in partnership with landowners Powis Estates and contractors SJ Roberts Construction, with grant funding from Homes England and Shropshire Council.
The development, called The Orchard, was officially opened by Jonathan Clive, chairman of Powis Estates, and Councillor Heather Kidd, leader of Shropshire Council and member of Shropshire Rural Housing Association’s board.
John Green, chief executive of Shropshire Rural Housing Association, said everyone was absolutely delighted with how the development had come together.
“The new homes look really great and fit in with the rest of the village superbly,” he said.
“We worked hard with the developers and architects to ensure the design of the homes was sympathetic to the rural nature of Chirbury, and we are delighted with how the whole development has turned out. But more importantly, the new residents love it and are really excited about moving in.
“The whole aim of projects like this - and indeed our ethos as an organisation - is to provide quality housing which is affordable for local people to remain living in their own communities.
“All 13 of these new homes have been let to people from Chirbury and the surrounding area, who might otherwise have had to move away to find affordable places to live.
“Rural villages like Chirbury need to keep evolving with enough available housing to enable the population to grow and support vital amenities like the village school, shop and pub.
“We are delighted to have been able to work positively with all partners, including Shropshire Council, Chirbury with Brompton Parish Council, Powis Estates and Homes England to provide these much-needed homes for local people.”
Matthew Roberts, construction director at SJ Roberts Construction, added: “It is always a moment of great pride to see a development reach completion and to hand it over.
“These are more than just new houses - they’re affordable homes for the people who live in this rural community, and it’s a community that means a lot to us as a team given its proximity to our own headquarters.”
Councillor Heather Kidd, leader of Shropshire Council, said: “I have a huge passion to make sure that people can live in the communities they were brought up in or they can move into to live near their children.
“This scheme has been on my radar since 2019, and we’ve been working our socks off to get it delivered.
“They are beautiful homes, but more importantly, they are for local people, to keep our school and the shop open.
“We need more schemes like this, especially in our more rural communities and I’m keen to explore how we can make this happen.”
Jack Tavernor, estates director at Powis Estates, added: “It’s been a true collaborative effort to bring this site forward.
“We set out with a vision of providing affordable homes of the highest quality whilst positively adding to Chirbury and its setting. What has been created is testament to the effort put in by all involved.”
