Customers have been moving into new affordable homes in the historic town of Sturminster Newton.

A selection of shared ownership and rented homes have been made available by Magna Housing at Corallian Heights in the popular Dorset market town, with well-regarded schools, independent shops and a popular community arts centre nearby.

The homes, a mixture of two-, three- and four-bedroom houses, form part of Magna’s growing development programme, providing homes for local people to stay in towns and villages where they have families and employment, and where they may otherwise be priced out of the market.

Magna Housing, which owns almost 8,500 homes predominantly across Dorset and Somerset, purchased the nine homes from private developer Bellway who are building new homes for sale on the open market at the scheme.

The purchase was made using funding Magna receives as a delivery partner to the Curo/Swan strategic partnership, which has been allocated Homes England funding to work with selected housing providers to build affordable homes.

The spacious homes, some of which are three-storey townhouses, have a selection of practical features not always included in affordable housing including garages, parking, working from home spaces and dressing rooms. The site also includes EV charging points for residents to use.

Showing the demand for these attractive and high-quality homes, the rented homes, all featuring three bedrooms, were allocated to local people almost immediately, followed by the majority of the shared ownership properties being reserved. Just two shared ownership homes remain available.

Mrs Chappell, who moved into one of the rental homes recently, said: “I feel very fortunate to be here. The house is fantastic, a really lovely home on a great site close to town. It’s also cheaper than the private rental I was in before and my electricity bill is around a fifth of what it was. I couldn’t be happier.”

As well as finding opportunities to purchase homes from developers on larger sites such as this one, Magna is building 2,000 new homes over 10 years, providing social rent homes to alleviate the housing crisis and shared ownership homes to allow people to get on the property ladder.

Paul Read, Magna’s Director of Sustainability and Investment, said: “As we all know, for many people on lower incomes, finding good quality, well located and truly affordable housing is a real issue, with demand for homes far outstripping availability.

“Homes such as the ones we’re providing in Sturminster Newton are vital in meeting this housing need, and form part of our development plan to maximise opportunities for affordable housing provision across our key areas.

“It’s been wonderful to see residents moving into these homes and to see the real difference they are making to individuals and families to not only remain in their local town and community, but also to live in attractive, warm and modern homes.”

Find out more about the new homes here: https://www.magna.org.uk/developments/corallian-heights-sturminster-newton