'Affordable' housing is first step to ownership

Seventeen homes are being erected on a one-acre site in Church Street, Kimberworth, which used to be home to rundown sheltered housing, before it was bulldozed.

Mayor of Rotherham Coun Allan Jackson will be joined on Friday by former Mayoress Mrs Edith Senior laying the foundation stones of the Fernbank development.

Mrs Senior was invited because one of the new streets is being named in honour of her late husband Coun Aubrey Senior, who died last August. He was instrumental in the redevelopment of the area.

The new development will have a mix of three-bedroom homes, two-bedroom houses and two-bedroom bungalows, all available for shared ownership with the Equity Housing Group - a registered social landlord.

There will also be two-bedroom bungalows for rent.

Coun Sue Ellis, Rotherham Council cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “I am delighted to see the work starting at Kimberworth.

“It is precisely this type of development that is needed across Rotherham with a mix of good quality housing that is affordable to a wide range of people and will be of benefit to the local neighbourhood.”