TENANTS of a Cwmbran social landlord have moved into six new homes on a former hotel site.

The homes - on the site of the former Commodore Hotel in Llanyravon - were allocated as affordable housing at the 20-home ButlerWall Homes development.

Bron Afon Community Housing were able to purchase the properties – two semi-detached homes for intermediate rent and four one-bedroom flats for social rent - under a Section 106 agreement with the developer.

This requires any new development to include a percentage of affordable housing through the council planning process.

Nicola Janneh, one of the new tenants, said: “I am very lucky and feel blessed to be moving into my new house.

"It’s also a new start for me and for my two children.”

Development manager at Bron Afon, Robert Panou, said he was "especially proud of this as it’s our first completed deal of this type" with the "quality of the houses (being) outstanding".

“Working with a private developer means we’ve been able to provide products of a high standard that meet the needs of the local housing market," he said.

Strategy team leader of social care and housing at Torfaen County Borough Council, Lesley Groves, said: “We're happy to have played an enabling role in the delivery of these much-needed affordable homes in Torfaen.

"Working closely with local developers, Bron Afon and Torfaen planning department meant this scheme was delivered successfully.”

The Cwmbran hotel has been in administration and boarded up since the end of 2011 and was earmarked for building land before being transformed into a housing complex.

Consultant at ButlerWall Homes, Tom Parry added: “We're pleased to have handed over the six properties at our Commodore site to Bron Afon.

"Having met with Robert Panou and Lesley Groves at a very early stage, we were able to work closely together from day one to make sure our design and specification met with their size and standard requirements.

“We are proud to be the provider of the first new homes for Bron Afon as a registered social landlord and hope this is the start of a long-term relationship with them.”