£20 million to build new homes in Shropshire
Hundreds of jobs are to be created in housebuilding across Shropshire after the Wrekin Housing Trust was allocated a huge slice of Government cash.
The Telford-based trust has been awarded more than £20 million to go towards building an additional 730 homes over the next three years.
The work, backed by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), is expected to generate more than £235 million for the local economy, while the trust says it will bring around 1,700 new jobs and 100 apprenticeships into the construction industry.
Jean Teichmann, head of development at Wrekin Housing Trust, said: "We're thrilled to have been allocated this extra funding which will help us continue to provide the much-needed affordable homes across our local areas.
"As well as providing new homes, we are also contributing massively to the local economy and creating huge numbers of jobs, so these developments are beneficial in many ways and will go some way to managing the current housing crisis."
The new funding allocation comes from the Homes & Community Agency's Affordable Homes Programme and will be used towards building modern, sustainable homes for rent and shared ownership in areas with high demand for new homes such as Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Telford, as well as Leominster, Stafford and Rugeley.
When added to the trust's current programme of housebuilding, it means that more than 2,000 new homes will be built across its territory – which includes Shropshire, Staffordshire and Herefordshire – during that three-year development period.
That equates to more than one new home per day, creating almost 5,000 new jobs and over half a billion pounds to the economy, according to the trust.
