SEVENTEEN houses are a step closer to being built in a West Oxfordshire village.

Cottsway Housing Association and developer Deanfield Homes have exchanged contracts on a deal for 12 affordable rent and five shared ownership homes on Milton Road, Shipton-under-Wychwood, next to Wychwood Primary School.

A total of 44 homes are planned on the L-shaped site, plus a new parking area for the school.

The properties are a mix of one-bedroom flats and two and three-bedroom houses and reserved matters planning consent was recently granted.