Gloucester City Homes celebrates 600th home
Gloucester City Homes (GCH) is celebrating its 600th new home with the latest development of five affordable homes in the village of Upton St Leonards, just a few minutes’ drive from the city of Gloucester.
“It’s particularly pleasing that our 600th new home is in a community where affordable homes are so scarce,” said Guy Stenson, Chief Executive of GCH. “Upton St Leonards is a very desirable village where development opportunities are rare, and homes are so often out of reach of families who grew up in the village. These affordable new homes will offer a firm foundation for five families where they can thrive and be healthy. They will help to meet the housing need in the Stroud District, whilst still being close by to our existing GCH communities in Matson and Abbeydale.”
Natasha who moved in to her new home over the weekend with her young baby said: "I can't be more thankful, this home is perfect and everyone has been so helpful, I feel really lucky."
The homes at Monica Sims Close, built by Cheltenham house builder New Dawn Homes, comprise three 3-bedroom houses and two 2-bedroom houses for affordable rent and shared ownership. All five homes have already been let or sold.
GCH has now delivered 602 new affordable homes across Gloucester City, Tewksbury Borough and Stroud District since 2015. It currently has 251 new homes in the pipeline awaiting planning decisions which it hopes to have consent on before the end of the year. GCH’s five-year development strategy to 2029 has a renewed focus on energy-efficiency and investment in existing communities.
Monica Sims Close is named after a former BBC executive originally from Upton St Leonards. She is said to have shattered the BBC’s glass ceiling, working her way up from Editor of Woman’s Hour to become the first female Controller of Radio 4 and subsequently the first woman to hold the position of Director of Radio Programmes at the corporation.