A project to build six new homes on Skye to tackle depopulation and rising house prices has attracted 26 expressions of interest months ahead of its completion.
The first affordable housing development in Staffin for 22 years, which is under construction along with a health centre and two business units, is expected to be ready by the autumn.
The development started last year, six years after a report highlighted concerns about the community’s sustainability due to a declining population, lack of available accommodation and a falling school roll.
It showed Staffin’s population had dropped by 6.6 per% between 2009 and 2013, from 608 people to 568.
Local people priced out of housing market
The Staffin Community Trust (SCT) has worked with the Communities Housing Trust (CHT) and Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association (LSHA) since 2014 to provide housing for people priced out of the island’s property market.
Each organisation is building two houses, a mix of affordable rent and discounted sales, for local families and those with connections to Staffin.
Interest in the homes has come mainly from young people who can’t obtain accommodation on the open market.
Island depopulation concerns has promoted the SNP to offer up to £50,000 to young families to move from the mainland or stay locally in the long term.
Helping reverse population decline
SCT director Donald MacDonald said: “This project, which has taken many years of hard work, is intended to be a step towards reversing the decline in population which we saw in the past and to sustain the local school and services.
“Communities such as Staffin need to make homes available for young families and to retain people, particularly when house prices are beyond the reach of most of the younger generation.”
SCT’s project funders include LEADER, the Scottish Government’s Rural Housing Fund and Scottish Land Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the SSE Sustainable Development Fund and the Quaker Housing Trust.
A crowdfunding campaign raised more than £7,000, while Gaelic singer Alasdair Gillies donated £3,000 and Highland Council provided a short-term £215,000 guarantor loan.
The health centre will be leased to NHS Highland and will provide improved services, including video-conferencing to cut down on residents travelling to hospitals on the mainland.
