Worcester-based Sanctuary Housing has been handed its first three properties from developers Bloor Homes as part of a multi-million pound deal to deliver some much needed affordable accommodation in the UK.

Thanks to a £13m grant from the Housing Corporation (now the Homes and Communities Agency) in October last year, Sanctuary has used the funding to purchase 335 properties from Bloor’s, the first of which were handed over last week.

The three properties, on Venn’s Lane in Hereford, will be made available to local residents for affordable rent and a further 14 will be handed over to Sanctuary on the same site from Bloor’s later this year, making a total of 17 new homes in the area.

The properties are the first Sanctuary has acquired in Hereford where the Group has been selected by ESG Herefordshire to manage and help with the delivery of a new urban village in the city.

The village will provide up to 1,000 new homes in Hereford, of which at least 35 per cent will be affordable accommodation. The groundbreaking project is expected to be completed by 2020.

Hilary Gardner, Commercial Director, said: “After being selected as ESG’s partner for the delivery of the new urban village we are delighted to be able to demonstrate our further commitment to Hereford by the provision of these new homes.”