Stroud District Council has had its best year yet for building new affordable homes for sale and rent.

Some 198 units in total have been facilitated by the council, which includes affordable, energy efficient housing for a diverse and changing population.

The council’s previous best was 142 in 2014.

In 2019/20, 114 were rented units, 81 in shared ownership, one was a discounted sale, and two were offered under the Buy to Rent scheme, SDC housing committee members were told in a performance monitoring report.

The council built 239 homes for its own stock of rented properties between 2014 and 2019, and at the same meeting, committee members approved an action plan to build 111 more.

Stroud District’s population of 118,130 is spread over 47,640 private homes, 4,991 council homes and 1,752 housing association homes. The population is predicted to grow to 136,000 by 2041. There are currently over 3,147 people on the housing register, with 21,114 young people, 70,802 working age adults, and 26,214 in retirement.

The increase of people of pensionable age is anticipated to rise significantly in the future as a result of rising life expectancy and the demographic impacts of two generations of baby boomers.

“Against that backdrop, we know just how important it is to plan for generations to come,” said SDC housing committee chair, Councillor Mattie Ross.

“We are committed to positively contributing to the provision of affordable, good quality, energy efficient homes that meet current and future needs and while we are trying as a council to build as many as we can for our own stock, we can help developers build affordable homes for rent and for sale.

“I am really pleased that we as a council have over-delivered on the latter in the most recent full year and I know officers are working hard to ensure that continues.”