Affordable homes approved for Ardley

Seven of the homes will be offered for affordable rent and six for shared ownership. They were approved by the council’s planning committee on Thursday, January 17.Funding of £430,000 from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal has been allocated to support the development, which registered provider Waterloo Housing will deliver. The applicant will make contributions totalling £60,000 to fund outdoor play and indoor sports facilities in the area, and improvements to the local village hall.Cllr David Hughes, chairman of the planning committee, said: “It’s vital that we work to deliver the affordable homes that people need in our district. There is a need for this in many rural areas as well as in our towns.“In this case we’ve worked alongside the parish council to identify the need for affordable housing, and helped fund it with money from the Government’s Growth Deal.“The scheme has been sensitively designed to reflect the traditional workers’ cottage style associated with Ardley. It proves that there is no reason why affordable homes should not fit in with traditional village environments.”The dwellings will be a mix of one, two and three-bedroom houses and apartments including one bungalow. The rented homes will be available through the Housing Register, with applicants with a local connection to the village prioritised.The site is on arable land east of Station Road, abutting the Ardley Conservation Area. The applicant proposes to build the homes from Cotswold Limestone to reflect the heritage of locally listed buildings such as Jersey Cottages.

The application, 18/01881/F can be viewed on the Cherwell District Council's planning page.The proposal for affordable homes in the village follows a consultation on housing carried out in 2018 by Ardley with Fewcott Parish Council, and a Housing Needs Survey run by Cherwell in 2017.Policy Villages 3 of the adopted Local Plan supports affordable housing schemes in villages where there is a specific, identified local housing need.