CONSTRUCTION has begun on the new 188 home Regis Park development in Rowley Regis.

The new estate, on the site of the former Edwin Richards Quarry, is a project between home builder Countryside and Sigma Capital Group and will create much needed affordable housing in Sandwell.

90 of the new three and four bedroom homes will be available for sale on the open market through a number of home buying initiatives, such as the Help to Buy scheme.

The remaining 98 two, three and four bedroom properties will be made available on the rental market under the DifRent brand, providing tenants with expertly managed, quality, new build family homes.

Peter Vella, regional sales and marketing director at Countryside, said: “Having only launched our new West Midlands office in 2016, the start of this development is an important and exciting milestone for Countryside.

"This new scheme promises to deliver high quality, mixed-tenure homes that will play a key role in building and enhancing the local community for years to come.

“We’ve worked with Sigma Capital Group on a number of award winning developments in the North West and look forward to replicating this success in Rowley Regis.”

Matthew Townson, development director at Sigma, added: “Following our successful development programme in the North West, Sigma are delighted to have embarked on our first DifRent scheme in the Midlands together with our construction partner Countryside and funder Gatehouse Bank.

"Rowley Regis is a great location and we are confident that rental demand will be strong for our high specification family housing.”

In 2015 Sandwell Council has given outline planning permission to the quarry’s owners FCC Environment to build a waste recycling facility, 281 houses and fill in the quarry with 12 million tonnes of imported material over the next 30 years.