Plans for a £11.5 million development of affordable homes in a County Durham village have been given the green light by local planning officials.

The news follows unanimous approval of a scheme submitted by North East planning experts Hedley Planning Services on behalf of developer Partner Construction. The move will see a mix of 49 two, three and four bedroomed properties including 14 bungalow homes, built on a site near Sea View Walk in Murton.

Partner Construction is currently in talks with affordable housing provider Karbon Homes to deliver the scheme. Karbon owns and manages close to 30,000 affordable homes with a footprint covering the North East of England and Yorkshire.

Plans will also see new landscaping incorporated into a project that local councillors say will benefit the local community, with car parking spaces for local residents and visitors and new access.

More than 20 construction and associated supply chain jobs would be created as building work on the site gets underway in the coming weeks, with the first phase of homes available in March 2023.

The news comes as the Government continues to push for the delivery of new properties across the North East to meet the chronic housing shortage and arrest the decline in the affordability of home ownership.

Alex Franklin, planner at Hedley Planning Services who steered the planning application through to approval by County Durham planning committee, said: “This is good news for local people desperate for quality housing at affordable prices. Development plans reflect the long-identified need for affordable housing in east Durham, which is bigger than ever.

“This development will deliver 100% of the new homes as affordable and we continue to work with developers and planning authorities across the region to ensure that similar much needed affordable homes are viable and help to plug the chronic housing gap.”