A SCOTTISH housing association has converted its former office building, which was previously a church manse, into homes for social rent.
Kingdom Housing Association said conversion work had now been completed on the vacant office building at Natal Place in Cowdenbeath “returning the property to its original residential use”.
Built in 1906, the two-storey sandstone building once served as the manse for the now-demolished West Parish Church in Cowdenbeath, the housing association noted.
Kingdom bought the property in 1989 and noted that it had been “home to many teams” for 30 years before being vacated in January 2019.
Bill Banks, chief executive of Kingdom, said: “Although its days as an office have now gone, I was really keen that we didn’t lose it completely and that’s why we decided to convert it back to housing. I’m delighted that it has now been turned back into residential use and will be providing homes for many people for years to come.”
The former offices have been converted by Campion Homes into two spacious and energy-efficient homes for social rent, “securing a housing asset for many years to come while providing tenants with a modern home”, Kingdom added.
The housing association declared: “The properties will also contribute to the Rapid Rehousing Plans in Fife and provide much needed housing for homeless families through a project which fits with Local Housing Strategy priorities and augments local town centre regeneration objectives.”
Mr Banks said: “This property at Natal Place in Cowdenbeath played a significant part in the development of our housing association.
“It was Kingdom’s first permanent office building after spending around five years working out of a [portable cabin]. The building was our main office for many years until the headquarters in Glenrothes were opened, however Natal Place remained as a branch office for a variety of staff until 2018 /19.”
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