THAMES Valley Housing welcomed the mayors of Farnham and Waverley, and representatives of house-builder Hill, to formally open 21 brand new homes for shared ownership and affordable rent on the former Dairy Crest depot in Weydon Lane.

The Mayor of Farnham, Mike Hodge, and his Waverley counterpart, Simon Inchbald were given a tour of the site and met residents before officially declaring the “100 per cent affordable housing” development open.

The site features 12 homes for shared ownership and nine for affordable rent. Thames Valley Housing worked in partnership with Waverley Borough Council and Hill to deliver these with the aim of “addressing the housing need in the area”.

The shared ownership development consists of six four-bedroom homes, three three-bedroom homes and a pair of two-bedroom bungalows. On the opposite side of Weydon Lane is a block of five affordable rented two-bedroom flats and four one-bedroom flats on the old Dairy Crest staff car park.

The Mayor of Waverley, Mr Inchbald said: “I was delighted to officially open the Weydon Lane development. These new high quality homes help to address the housing need in the borough and I hope that the residents will be happy here for years to come.”

Guy Burnett, development director at Thames Valley Housing added: “We’re delighted to have worked in partnership with Waverley, Hill and Homes England to transform this run-down site in Farnham into some high quality homes for families while being able to offer social housing to nine more households.

“There is an ongoing need for high quality homes in the area and we hope to replicate this model elsewhere in the borough.”

Planning permission was initially refused for the council-backed scheme in July 2015, amid some embarrassment for all parties, after councillors agreed with officers that its impact on neighbouring homes would be unacceptable.

However, Waverley’s western planning committee reversed this decision in March 2016 after a number of amendments including the replacement of two two-storey homes at the rear of the site with bungalows.

The dairy site, operated by Unigate Dairies prior to its takeover by Dairy Crest in 2000, was earmarked for housing in both the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan and Waverley Local Plan.