Scotland

Moray Council builds in Lossiemouth

Moray Housing

An exciting project will see Moray Council build houses in the town of Lossiemouth for the first time in over 25 years.

The new site will see four houses and six flats constructed on former woodland as part of the council’s New Build Programme. Work began onsite in March 2012 and the project is expected to be completed by February 2013.

Graham Davidson, Moray Council, commented:

“There is a high level of housing need in Moray but due to the government funding restrictions, the level of social house building has declined fairly dramatically. The housing associations aren’t developing to the same extent as they were a couple of years ago, so any new development is always welcome.

“The subsidy level for the housing association has fallen fairly dramatically. It used to be around £70,000 per unit and now we’re down to around £40,000 per unit. As a result, a lot of housing associations are constrained because they just don’t have enough subsidies in order to develop.”

All of the flats will have two bedrooms, whilst each house is semi-detached and will have three bedrooms. The residences are constructed using a timber frame and will have high insulation values within the cavities, along with under floor heating, double glazing and air source heat pumps for water and space heating. The design intends to keep running costs down for future tenants, as Graham Davidson explained:

“Fuel poverty is a big issue, and as tenants tend to be on fairly low incomes we are trying to make the houses as easy and low cost as we possibly can. We’re doing this through high insulation standards, under floor heating and air source heat pumps.

“So far site recreation works and foundations are ahead of schedule, but we are in the early stages of the programme. The project isn’t due for completion until February so there is still quite a bit to be done – including the internal works, electrical works, joinery and plumbing.”

Moray Housing

Graham Davison is pleased that this development is taking place and asserts that Moray Council is keen to provide attractive family homes that are affordable for residents to run:

“It’s the first project that we’ve had in Lossiemouth for a long time. It will provide a significant contribution to the overall housing stock that is available, whilst the sustainable features help us to tackle a fuel property agenda and contribute to the climate change targets that the government has set.”

“In terms of the community, it will provide another ten high quality, affordable houses – which will take people off the waiting list. Residents may have been in unsuitable accommodation that was overcrowded or have a high level of need, so it will certainly be an improvement for them to be able to live in a brand new house.”

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