Published on:
03
November 2014
Housing Minister Margaret Burgess has announced the completion of 28 new affordable homes for rent in Clackmannanshire under the award-winning National Housing Trust initiative (NHT).
The homes in Coalsnaughton are the first to be delivered in the county under NHT, and will be available for rent to tenants at below market rates for five to 10 years. At the end of the rental period the homes will be being sold, with tenants being given the first option to buy.
Hadden Construction built the development, which comprises a mixture of eight flats and 20 houses.
The development is estimated to have unlocked around £4 million in housing development, and to have supported 40 jobs. Its completion brings the total number of NHT homes completed across Scotland to over 750.
Developed by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Futures Trust, the NHT initiative is supported by a Scottish Government guarantee.
Mrs Burgess said: "I am delighted to announce the completion of this development, which delivers 28 new affordable homes for rent in Clackmannanshire.
"Developments such as this not only provide a boost for our construction sector and wider economy, but also offer people and families the chance to rent a new home at affordable rates.
"NHT tenants all over Scotland have told me how delighted they are with their new, high quality homes, and the initiative is well on track to deliver over 2,000 much needed new homes in communities across the country - all for very little taxpayers' money.
"Housing is and will remain a priority for this Government and we will continue to invest in new affordable homes. Despite the severe cuts to our budgets by the UK Government we are committed to supporting house building across Scotland, and to delivering on our target of 30,000 new, affordable homes over the lifetime of this Parliament."
Councillor Les Sharp, Convener of Housing, Health and Social Care, said:
"I am delighted to see these new houses completed, and particularly to this high specification. It has also been very pleasing to see how well the contractor has engaged with both the new tenants and the local community throughout the whole planning and building process.
"The Council is committed to increasing the number of houses for rent in Clackmannanshire, and the investment in this high quality development and the effective management of the lettings procedure has helped it become one of the most popular sites that we have had."
Stephen Lynas, Business Development Director with Hadden Construction, commented:
"We're delighted to have been involved in successfully delivering this much needed innovative mid-market rental housing for local people in partnership with Clackmannanshire Council. It has proved really popular with tenants and we could have built them twice over again to meet demand in the area."
Christa Reekie, commercial director at SFT, stated:
"SFT's work in developing and managing the innovative National Housing Trust programme is helping to boost the supply of affordable-rent housing in key areas across Scotland. Since its launch in late 2010, contracts have been signed through the original model to build over 1,250 NHT affordable-rent homes at 32 locations across 10 Scottish local authority areas. Demand for NHT homes remains high and I am delighted about the overwhelmingly positive response to the recently completed development by local SME, Hadden Construction, in Coalsnaughton."