Plans for six new homes in the Highlands have been approved
30 November 2016
Plans for six new homes in the Cairngorms, enabled by the Highland Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT), have been approved by park authority chiefs.
Inverdruie Sawmill Cooperative will erect six new affordable homes on the site of a former sawmill on Rothiemurcus Estate, near Aviemore. The housing project was led by local people who worked with the Highland Sawmill Communities Housing Trust and the estate to generate their own plans for self-build, energy efficient housing.
The plan is based on the development of four affordable self-build plots, sold initially at approximately 4% of the open market value, to the Highland Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT) who will re-sell the plots to the prospective self-builders with a title burden to ensure initial and ongoing affordability. This sale of land at a fraction of the market cost will be cross-subsidised by the sale of two further plots on the open market.
Planning committee convener Eleanor Mackintosh said: “How to deliver affordable housing is a constant question we have and there is no easy answer. However this cooperative is an excellent example of what can be done in the right place with the right partnership support.”
