Community Housing Project
Six houses at Creag Mhor Gardens were completed by S+K MacDonald Homes in January 2024.
About Project
The six houses at Creag Mhor Gardens were completed by S+K MacDonald homes in January 2024 and the first tenants moved in shortly afterwards. Some additional funding from the Highland Council Community Regeneration Fund was received in October 2023 and was a huge boost to help the project reach completion without the need for further development financing. The project faced numerous setbacks and challenges over the last few years: increased material prices, interest rates and delays that added to the project costs. However, despite the challenges, once the building works got underway, the houses were completed on time and without any major complications. Support from Communities Housing Trust was invaluable throughout the last year. They undertook the application and allocation process for the rented houses and will be ACT’s letting agents going forward.
In 2023, three self-build plots were allocated to successful applicants, also through the Communities Housing Trust application process. All three couples and families are first time buyers and live and work in the local community. Attention has now turned to enabling the self-builders to move forward with their projects and creating their dream homes in Arisaig. The sale of the three plots concludes project objectives set out in 2019 following the feasibility study, community consultation and project planning.
Project Funding
The majority of the project has been funded by Scottish Government: through the Scottish Land Fund; Rural Housing Fund and Rural Communities into Action Fund, along with The Highland Council: Community Regeneration Fund and the Quaker Housing Trust. A development loan was also arranged through Ecology Building Society bringing the total project costs, from feasibility stage through to completion, to just over £1,750,000.
