Prees lays foundations for new community-led scheme

A new community-led rural housing development will be delivered in Press parish in north Shropshire within the next two years.

Prees Parish Council, working in conjunction with The Wrekin Housing Trust and Shropshire Council, are beginning preliminary work on their much-needed affordable housing development within the parish.

The announcement coincides with Rural Housing Week, which this year celebrates Building for Rural Communities, and is a national initiative intended to shine a spotlight on the benefits of affordable housing and the positive impact it has on rural communities.

Shropshire has a shortage of affordable housing, due largely to the widening gap between average household incomes and average property prices throughout the county.

To help tackle this issue, Shropshire Council set up the Right Home, Right Place initiative, which runs surveys in each parish across Shropshire to identify and address the housing needs of its residents.

Following the survey in Prees in 2018, which identified the need for new affordable housing in the parish, the Parish Council and Shropshire Council worked together to determine the best organisation to deliver the housing.

Following that process, The Wrekin Housing Trust has been selected to deliver the project.

A project board, which includes members of Prees Parish Council, Shropshire Council and Wrekin Housing Trust, will be established to oversee the development and, following a parish council meeting on 16 July, the board will be seeking additional representation from the wider local community.

With this in place, the board will work together to identity the best location, scale and composition of properties before entering the planning and build phases.