DORSET is one of the areas in line for new affordable homes after housing provider Stonewater won £10.6million from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

The money will provide 422 grant-funded homes, of which 274 will be shared ownership, 133 will be “rent to buy” and 15 specialised rental homes for vulnerable people.

Around 60 will be in Dorset, with the others in Wiltshire, Somerset, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The news came as the government announced an expansion of its £7billion affordable homes programme.

Jonathan Layzell, Stonewater’s executive director of development, said: “This major HCA grant allocation will enable us to deliver a significant number of new affordable homes for the people who desperately need them and we’re delighted that we can now start work.

“The successful funding bid reflects our ability to provide new homes through a variety of tenures in the areas where they are most needed and help those currently locked out of the market.

“At the same time, we welcome the government’s focus on widening the ways available for people unable to access the housing market to become home owners.

“The funding bid forms part of our overall development programme which will see us invest nearly £400m in creating new affordable homes, available through a range of tenures, over the next five years.

“For Stonewater, this additional money will bring about an expansion of our shared ownership housebuilding programme which is successfully bringing low-cost home ownership within reach of those unable to buy on the open market.”

Stonewater’s shared ownership homes start at £50,000 for a 40 per cent share depending on location. Buyers can purchase up to 75 per cent of the property initially, paying rent on the remaining equity, with the option to own their home outright over time.

The “rent to buy” properties – offered on short-term tenancies at below market rents – are intended to help working people finding it difficult to afford local house prices to save for a deposit and buy the property they are living in.

Stonewater owns and manages more than 30,000 homes across England and last year delivered 650 new homes.