Almost 40 eco-friendly and affordable homes have been built in a £6.1m development and families on Oldham's housing register have already moved in.

The project, brought by the housing association, First Choice Homes Oldham, transformed a vacant plot of land off Cherry Avenue in the Alt neighbourhood into a development of 38 two-bedroom and three-bedroom affordable and eco-friendly homes.

Delivered in partnership with Tyson Construction, all homes in the scheme are designed to be 15 per cent more energy efficient than the minimum requirements of the building regulations.

First Choice Homes Oldhamsaid this will help its tenants to save energy and keep bills down.

Each property has been fitted with increased ground floor, wall and loft insulation to help make the homes cheaper to heat and stay warmer for longer.

While the work first started in spring 2021, now it has been completed the homes have been allocated to people on Oldham Council's housing register and the majority have already moved in.

Cara and her family are among the new residents at the development and says the move has made such a different to them.

Cara said: "It's lovely. I'm really pleased to be able to call this our home.

"We'd been on the housing waiting list for years and if we didn't have this place, I don't know where we'd be now. It's much better for us.

"The facilities are great - inside and outside - and the house is so warm.

"I think the energy-saving things will really make a different to our energy bills in the colder months.

"It's very quiet, too.

"To have peace in your own home when there's a lot going on makes all the difference."

The £6.1m development forms a part of First Choice Homes Oldham's strategy to deliver 1,100 high-quality and sustainable properties in Oldham and the surrounding areas from 2020 to 2026 to meet increasing demand across the region.

The housing association received £1.5m in grant funding from Homes England for the build.

As part of the project, Tyson Construction and First Choice Homes Oldhamcarried out various improvements and activities in the local area.

This included sponsoring a competition to name a street in the build, clearing rubbish from a fly-tipping hotspot and a "big clean-up" operation where six skips were filled with bulky household waste from around the area.

Volunteers at Alt Community Cafe were also supported by the initiative as the garden was cleared and prepared to make it more usable for people to enjoy.

Joel Owen, First Choice Homes Oldham director of development said: “Completion of this development at Cherry Avenue is an important milestone for FCHO and I’m pleased to see Cara and our other residents settling into their new homes.

“We are acutely aware of the desperate need for more affordable housing in Oldham, where demand far outstrips supply and are delighted to have worked with our partners including Oldham Council to bring forward a scheme that has transformed a former brownfield site, providing a mix of modern, high quality homes and prioritising sustainability, all to benefit residents.

“Important too is the work that Tyson Construction has done to support the local area during the build, and we’re pleased to be working with a contractor who shares our commitment to creating social value.”