Stroud District Council has handed over land for ten new homes meant to be rented out forever in Nailsworth in a bid to provide permanently affordable housing for local people.

The town’s Community Land Trust - a nonprofit organisation set up to look after affordable housing - now has space in Forest Green to build six flats and four houses.

After the council agreed to sell the site for £1, Nailsworth CLT worked on a Community Right to Build Order (CRTBO) to develop the homes between Lawnside and Bunting Hill, in December 2014.

CRTBOs are planning applications that allow local groups to propose small-scale community developments that aim to benefit towns.

Roughly 80% of residents backed the plan in a referendum in 2016 - though turnout was only 25%.

With the green light from locals, the CLT then began looking for suitable locations and Stroud District Council offered the former garages site.

All profits generated by the build will stay in the community and the homes will remain the property of Nailsworth Community Land Trust so they can continue to be offered to local people for rent in perpetuity.

On Thursday, April 5, SDC officers and councillors joined representatives of Nailsworth Town Council, Nailsworth CLT, EG Carter and the Aster Group to officially mark the handover and start of the work.

SDC Housing Committee chair Mattie Ross said: “This is a great scheme to help people in real housing need get a decent quality home at an affordable rent. I congratulate all involved in bringing this project forward.”

One of Nailsworth’s ward district councillors, Steve Robinson added: “We want to be able to offer local people the chance to stay in their communities and I am delighted that this scheme has been brought forward after a lot of hard work by the town and district councils, and the CLT.”

Stroud District Council is the only local authority in Gloucestershire to manage its own council housing stock and it is nearing the end of a £19 million project to build more than 230 new council homes.

SDC leader Doina Cornell Cornell said: “We would dearly love to be able to invest in more council homes but the Government has capped that for now, so we are open to other ways to build affordable homes, such as this.”

Construction firm EG Carter will build the homes and Aster Group will maintain the properties and manage the tenancies on behalf of the CLT.

After Severn Trent has carried out preliminary works, EG Carter is expected to start on site in June with a finish date target of January 2019.

Nailsworth mayor Jonathan Duckworth said: “It’s just fantastic to be here on this occasion – it’s been a long process but now we are going to see the homes built and it’s a great story for Nailsworth.”

Ian Crawley, a trustee and advisor of the national CLT network and secretary of Nailsworth CLT said: “This is a wonderful example of people coming together to help address housing need.

“What makes a local CLT so distinctive is that these homes will be for local people who need housing, forever.”

Nailsworth town councillor Sally Millett added: “I’m absolutely delighted that this will happen, it’s something that is so needed for young people.”