WORK on a scheme to provide villagers with affordable housing will be launched this week.

Two Castles Housing Association is building 17 pensioners' bungalows, 13 houses for rent, and four shared ownership properties at Burnopfield, near Stanley.

The site at Magnolia Grove, is a former haulage depot, and Derwentside District Council leader Alex Watson will mark the start of the scheme by laying a block, at a ceremony on Friday.

Richard Cave, operations director of the association, said: "The development of new bungalows has been provided by Two Castles Housing Association working closely with Derwentside District Council and the Housing Corporation, which provided public grant funding.

"Two Castles Housing Association raised the remaining private funding to develop the project.

"We are delighted to start what we consider to be an excellent housing scheme, which has been designed to take account of its location.''

The association, formerly known as the Cumbria Housing Society, has 3,300 properties in the North-East and North-West that are for rent or low-cost sale and are aimed at everyone.