• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Thursday June 23 2022
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Selwood Housing demolishes Trowbridge pub ready for new affordable homes

Housing association Selwood Housing has demolished the John Bull pub in Trowbridge ready for work to start on nine new affordable homes.

Selwood purchased the site in March 2021 after the circa 1950 Studley Green pub had remained vacant for some years. The current plans include six homes for affordable social rent and three for shared ownership, which offers residents a more affordable way of getting onto the property ladder.

The development received £648,000 part-funding by Homes England and will help provide much-needed affordable homes within the Trowbridge Community area, which currently has over 500 households on the Wiltshire Council Housing Register.

Paul Walsh, Selwood Housing group development director said: “I’m particularly excited by the development at John Bull. It’s a site I’ve known for years and had been a special place for many people, but now we can invest in building more local, affordable homes on this derelict site and improve the area. The first homes should be ready in early 2023.

“We’re hoping to involve Studley Green primary school in the naming of the new scheme. We’ve also worked with local historians to capture the pub’s history and to save it.”

Selwood Housing are particularly excited as this will be their first EPC A-rated development, the highest energy efficiency rating, helping towards their 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets.

Economic and environmental factors were also considered during the demolition of the former pub. The demolition contractor estimated that 95 per cent of the demolition waste would be recycled in some capacity, with only the remaining five per cent of waste ending up in landfill.

Pictured: Barry Hughes, group chief executive, Nikki Townshend, project manager, and Paul Walsh, group development director