Aviva Investors and Packaged Living have announced they have completed a deal to acquire and develop 195 homes in the West Midlands town of Telford, Shropshire.

The 195 units forward purchased by the Partnership consist of 148 semi-detached, 9 terraced and 38 detached homes, and together will provide over 179,000 sq ft of family housing. The properties form part of the wider Charlton School development in Telford, set on the former site of a secondary school and owned by established UK housebuilder, Vistry Partnerships.

James Stevens, Head of Real Estate Investment at Aviva Investors, said: “With the built environment accounting for a large proportion of total emissions in the UK, our project in Telford is an exciting opportunity to create a community with high social value, which also leads the way in demonstrating how the UK’s residential market can be more sustainable and environmentally conscious.”

As part of Aviva Investors’ commitment to achieving net zero across the entirety of its Real Assets platform by 2040, the Partnership will focus on creating sustainable communities.

The development will also feature electric vehicle charging for every dwelling with an associated parking space, whilst all timber will be sourced from sustainable sources and buildings will be designed to incorporate water recycling measures.

George Fraser Harding, Head of European Funds at Aviva Investors, said: “We look forward to working with our partners at Packaged Living to create a family-oriented location which provides much-needed affordable homes to middle-income families. We believe this will be an exemplary development in that regard, with material social and environmental benefits for residents as well as our investors, the large proportion of which are UK pension savers.”