By Ian McConnell

FIFE-based Kingdom Housing Association has unveiled plans to deliver 2,003 affordable new homes over the next five years, under an ambitious development programme.

The housing association said a minimum of 70 per cent of the new homes would be for social rent, with the remainder being “mid-market rent properties”, creating “mixed-tenure communities and supporting local economic development”.

It said: “Developing affordable housing in Fife, Perth & Kinross, Falkirk, and Clackmannanshire both for Kingdom and for its partners supports the Scottish Government’s Housing 2040 Strategy and its goal to deliver 100,000 affordable homes by 2031/32.”

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Kingdom noted it had, during the life of the last Scottish Parliament, delivered 1,647 new homes at a total investment of £257.6 million. It added that a further 904 new homes were under construction at the end of March.

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Julie Watson, interim head of capital investment at Kingdom, said, “Kingdom’s 2020/21 development programme generated a total investment of over £60m, more than four times the total investment in 2015/16, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to building great homes and great communities. Our future build programme also recognises our commitment to providing high-quality, highly energy efficient homes, which not only saves our tenants money in fuel costs but also contributes to Kingdom’s strategic objectives in terms of sustainability and climate change.”

Kingdom chief executive Bill Banks said: “Significant levels of investment were made by the Scottish Government to help affordable housing providers deliver on its 2016 to 2021 housing goals, and at Kingdom we look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government and other funding partners to deliver our ambitious development programme over the next five years.”