Affordable housing for young people is to be built across the north after Highland Council agreed to use City-Region Deal funding to finance the project.
A total of 61 affordable houses is expected to be complete by the end of next year in Ullapool, Fort William, Alness, Inverness, Aviemore, Grantown, Drumnadrochit and Newtonmore.
They follow on from the 5 homes already underway in Drumnadrochit which are also funded by the Highland city-region deal.
Chair of the Council’s Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Allan Henderson welcomed the announcement. He said: “This is good news for these communities and highlights our commitment of using funding from the city region deal to offer young people attractive, affordable housing in the Highlands to enable them to stay in the region, retaining a young, vibrant workforce for the Highlands.
“I am pleased to say that further projects in other areas of the Highlands are currently being worked up and we and our partners are on target to deliver 750 new mid-market homes over the next 10 year period.”
Eight new units will be built in Alness, as well as four in Aviemore, twenty five in Inverness, six in Fort William, eight in Grantown, four in Newtonmore, five in Drumnadrochit and six in Ullapool.
The project is to be developed by Albyn Housing Society and Highland Housing Alliance.
Gail Matheson, Chief Executive of Highland Housing Alliance added: “We are delighted to be working with our partners in delivering much needed mid-market rental homes in many areas across Highland. Demand is high and we will be able to offer homes to young people and families to ensure that they are able to stay in their local community.”
The Highland city-region deal is a joint initiative supported by up to £315M investment from the UK and Scottish governments, The Highland Council, HIE and University of the Highland and Islands, aimed at stimulating sustainable regional economic growth.
