PRINCESS Anne is to visit a new affordable housing scheme in Kent.

The Princess Royal is president of the Rural Housing Trust which helped plan and develop 25 homes in Miller Close, Wingham, near Canterbury.

The trust worked with the parish council to secure planning permission for the development, which was only approved on the condition the homes remain exclusively for local people.

The properties range from one-bedroom flats and three-bedroom houses.

Twenty are rented through the Southern Housing Group and five have been sold on a shared ownership basis.

The Rural Housing Trust is a charity which helps develop affordable homes in villages for local people who would otherwise have to move out.

Parish council chairman Bryan Curtis said the homes were allocated to applicants through a points system, with the local connections a principal requirement.

The Princess' visit is on Tuesday, December 18.