Twenty-one new homes to provide affordable housing for rent to local people have been officially opened in North Cornwall.

The homes at Quarry View, Delabole, were built by the Cornwall Rural Housing Association at a cost of £2.4 million.

They have been built on free land provided by Cornwall Council, which also provided £540,000 to supplement £1.37 million from the Homes and Communities Agency.

Funding of £88,000 was also received from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme to assist with the cost of installing photovoltaic panels which have been fitted to keep electricity bills to an affordable level.

All the homes also feature high levels of insulation and have been designed with large glazed areas where possible to maximise solar gain.

Rents have been set in accordance with government guidelines for affordable rent and range from £73.57 a week for a one-bedroom house with study up to £93.05 for a three-bedroom bungalow or house and £103.40 for a four-bedroom house.

The Quarry View development is the largest of the 46 completed by the CRHA in its 25 years history. It now owns 294 properties across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Planning restrictions placed on the properties stated that they had to be used to house people with strong local connections to the Parish of St Teath or the surrounding area whose income and capital were such that they were unable to buy or rent a property in the locality on the open market.

The homes have brought a new life to the families who occupy them.

Abi Blanchard, her partner and five children, were living in a two-bedroom house in nearby Penmead Road but now have four bedrooms.

She said: "I still can't believe I'm here. I was born and bred in Delabole, as was my partner, and it is nice here in Quarry View because we know every single one of our neighbours."

Lizzie Hill and her partner and four children also have a four-bedoom house and were living in a two-bedroom home at Penmead Road. "We were squashed there, but now it's lovely having lots of room."

She said her partner, Ashley Davey, had lived in Delabole all his life, while she originally came from Wadebridge.

Karen Smith and her husband and three children had to move from their previous home as it was being sold, but now they have a new three-bedroom property. "It's lovely, we were lucky to get one of the homes," said Karen.

Cornwall Council's Cabinet member for housing and planning, Mark Kaczmarek, said such schemes were needed to keep communities like Delabole together.

"I have spoken to the tenants and it is a good mix of young people and older residents including pensioners.

"It's a proper mix of village people," said Coun Kaczmarek.

"Villages like Delabole sometimes have issues about holiday homes, but this development will always be available for local people."