TENANTS have started to move into first rural village homes built by Taunton Deane Council in decades.
The homes in Vale View, West Bagborough, are being let to people with local connections.
The £730,000 was the second site to get under way in the district following the start of work at Creechbarrow Road, Taunton, where the council is building 60 of 92 new homes being provided.
The authority has also completed two infill sites in the Holway area of Taunton, providing four houses and eight flats.
Work on the two one-bedroom flats, two two-bedroom, two three-bedroom and one four-bedroom houses in West Bagborough started late last summer on council-owned land.
They are built to high energy efficiency standards and have air source heat pumps to reduce heating bills.
The council has set up its own affordable house-building arm, Deane Housing Development, as it now has the ability to build its own properties after a change in Government regulations.
Cllr Jean Adkins, who holds the housing services portfolio, said: “Affordable housing is desperately needed in rural areas where the costs of property are often beyond the reach of local people.
“We have worked closely with the parish council and I know there was a lot of interest in the project from people who have strong local ties.”
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