Richard Tisdalein Chirbury
BBCA mother-of-three has said her family “could not be more happy” to move into an affordable home, after they were forced out of their previous property.
Jessica Broomfield, her husband and three children had to move out of their previous rental house in Churchstoke, on the Shropshire border, after the landlord decided to sell it.
They were unable to find somewhere else and wanted to stay in the area due to the children being educated nearby.
On Wednesday, they picked up the keys to one of 13 new affordable homes with social rent in The Orchard, Chirbury, that make up the £3m development.
“I needed somewhere that was going to be secure for my family,” said the 29 year-old.
“The cost of everything at the moment, everything’s going up, the wages are going up but they’re not going up as much as the bills.”
‘We had to go out and cut logs’
The only way to heat their old house was a log fire, and the rent kept increasing.
“It was really hard keeping the whole house warm, especially through winter… we would have to go out and cut logs and everything to make sure the house was warm enough for the children,” she said.
“We want to make it our proper family home now.
“I couldn’t tell you how happy we are to have this.”
The development took six years to build, headed up by Shropshire Rural Housing Association, with grant funding from Shropshire Council and Homes England.
Also moving in are husband and wife, Linda and Brian Bailey, who previously lived in a rental cottage that belonged to a farm.
“It wasn’t damp-proof, no central heating, we cooked on an old Rayburn which was solid fuel, and we had a wood burner and that was the only source of heating,” she told BBC Shropshire.
“We spent a lot of money on fuel, coal and logs just to get the place warm, but you couldn’t get it warm.”
The 64-year-old care worker said the air source heap pump at the new rental meant they were saving money on buying coal and logs.
“For first timers, or people that just can’t afford the rent, something like this coming is just a godsend.”
Leader of Shropshire Council and councillor for Chirbury and Worthern Heather Kidd said: “Private market rent here is massive, and now a two bedroom is minimum £750 a month, [so] these will be between 55 and 60% less than the open market.”
“This has meant young people can stay here, people on basic state pensions can stay here, rather than having to move away.”
“This is really important for our economy, but also for our local people – it’s about housing Shropshire people and allowing people to move in when they need to.”
