A leading housing association is set to provide 156 homes in rural areas across Devon over the next three years. Over the last two years in Devon, 39 homes have been provided in Ashburton, 28 in Bovey Tracey, 27 in South Brent, 14 in Kingsbridge and 11 in Uffculme.

It is part of a £36m investment to build 193 rural homes across the South West in the last 12 months. Applegate Park in Kingsbridge was a partnership between LiveWest and local independent house builder, Devonshire Homes, which resulted in the completion of 94 homes in the town

Having previously owned his own home, shared ownership gave Mark Lamble the perfect platform to start a new chapter in his life at this idyllic location in the South Hams – an area where average house process are typically around 15 times average salaries.

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Speaking during Rural Housing Week, Mark said: “I am a local born and bred Kingsbridge person so it’s great to not have to move location. I really enjoy the area. The views here are absolutely stunning. I have got a really lovely plot here. It’s really nice, comfortable, new, modern and easy to maintain.

"I really enjoy my home. I got back on the housing ladder under the shared ownership scheme which was great. From a shared ownership point of view, I can’t recommend it enough. I have bought a new home and I don’t have to worry. LiveWest has been very good and anything I have done with the Aftercare team has been superb.”

The housing provider is continuing its commitment to building more rural homes across the county. LiveWest is developing 12 new homes in Dunkeswell, 11 in Bradworthy and eight in Marlborough this year.

Organised by the National Housing Federation, Rural Housing Week takes place from 1-5 July to promote the work housing associations are doing in rural towns and villages across the country. It aims to shine the spotlight on the investment housing associations are making in rural communities and the role they play in offering a lifeline to local people in our market towns and villages.

Gareth Jones, Development Director for LiveWest, said: “Building rural homes changes lives and helps to strengthen communities. Rural Housing Week is an opportunity to talk about how rural housing developments offer essential homes to local people and underlines how vital new homes are in supporting thriving rural communities and services.

“Housing prices everywhere, including in rural areas, continue to rise which is why our commitment to affordable housing is so important to offer people the chance of a new home and to sustain vibrant rural communities. Our development plans mean we will be working in a broad range of rural communities across the South West to deliver homes that people can afford to live in.

“Alongside our ambitious plans to build around 766 rural houses in the next three years, we are also focusing on their energy performance to ensure that all our new houses offer energy efficient comfortable homes for our customers.”