New homes for local people
19.12.2008
Cottsway Housing Association has completed its latest rural development, providing six new homes for people with a local connection to Over Norton.
This small development is made up of one 1-bedroom, four 2-bedroom and one 3-bedroom houses. One of the 2-bedroom homes is a part-rent part-buy home, the rest are for rent. Work started in March 2008 and is now complete.
Sarah Bigland has moved from her flat in Chadlington to the 3-bedroom house in Over Norton with her partner Richard Johnson and her two daughters. “We had all been looking forward to having more space, the girls having a bedroom each and having our own garden, and it’s now happened. Richard’s grandparents, Fred and Vi Moulder live just down the road and his mum was born and bred in the village”, she said. “We have lived in the flat for 12 years and, while we had mixed emotions leaving the village, we were very pleased to be offered a brand new home.”
These are the first properties where Cottsway has installed air source heat pumps which provide heating, hot water and ventilation. These should prove energy efficient and lead to lower fuel costs than traditional heating systems.
David Waters, Cottsway’s chief executive, said “We are pleased to be building new homes in an area as rural as Over Norton. The provision of affordable housing is vital to help sustain communities by enabling younger people to live in the areas where they grew up.”
Cottsway has worked in partnership with Oxford Rural Housing Partnership, Oxfordshire Rural Community Council and West Oxfordshire District Council on this development, with funding provided by Cottsway and the Housing Corporation.
