Electrician Duncan Palmer was so impressed with the development that he was working on in Tenbury Wells that he has now moved into it with his family, thanks to a shared ownership deal with WM Housing Group and Nexus Housing.
Duncan, his partner and two young children have a stake in a brand new three-bedroom property at Mistletoe Vale, one of seven properties that were available on a part-buy/part-rent basis alongside those that were built for social rent.
Duncan says: "It's bizarre to think that I fitted the electrics on the very house that we bought. In fact I know that I worked on this home during the Christmas period of 2011, so in a way this is our Christmas present. We love our new home. We're close to everything and everyone that we care about and we've got a great new lifestyle - it's the best move we've made."
He continues: "We really wanted to buy a home, so that we could start investing in our future, but we couldn't afford a deposit, so this really made sense. We ended up buying a 35% share of our property, and our joint rent and mortgage now costs us less than our previous rent."
The mix of flats, houses and bungalows have all been built to the latest eco standards, making them very energy efficient and making them environmentally friendly to build and run. Located just a mile-and-a-half from the town centre, they are also very conveniently located.
"We're now so close to town and our jobs that we've sold one of our vehicles, and we're saving money on our energy bills because of all of the insulation and eco fixtures and fittings on our house," adds Duncan.
Kevin Willetts, executive director of development at WM Housing Group, says: "I'm delighted that Duncan and his family are realising the advantages of living at Mistletoe Vale. We built these homes following a survey which showed that there was a need for more affordable homes in Tenbury Wells. We worked closely with Malvern Hills District Council and Tenbury Wells Town Council to create a development which suited the area and met local requirements. Seeing Duncan and his family so happy makes it very real and shows us that we definitely got the development right."