PLANS to build affordable homes for local workers in one of Scotland’s rural property hotspots has moved a step closer.

The Arran Development Trust (ADT) are seeking to build more than 40 houses for local families who have been priced out of the market, threatening the island with a crippling population drain.

The Trust says that workers in vital professions and everyday jobs can no longer afford to settle on Arran because of the high cost of property and the lack of available homes.

A huge proportion of the houses on the Inner Hebridean island in the Firth of Clyde, which has a population of around 5,000, have been bought as second homes by incomers and retirees, pushing up prices and creating a population crisis as young workers move away.

READ MORE: Arran scheme to build new houses for all key workers

The ADT hopes to reverse this trend, and has secured an award of £3.6 12  million from the Scottish Government’s Rural & Islands Housing Fund, which was set up to increase the supply of homes in the countryside. It is believed to be the largest grant awarded to a community group from this fund.

The Herald:

The £3.612m grant will be used as part of an £8.5m financial package to provide 43 affordable rental houses of between one and four bedrooms across two sites in the Lamlash area and will help address the severe lack of affordable housing on the island.

The ADT will also be taking forward plans to provide 14 serviced self-build plots in Lamlash, Arran and has received over 60 expressions of interest.

Barry Mochan, chairman of the Arran Development Trust, said: “This is a wonderful achievement for a community group to secure a grant offer of this magnitude and it will have such a positive immediate impact on the local community.

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“The local community have wanted and needed this boost for so long and all the hard work getting it to this stage has finally paid off. We anticipate being in a position to start the build around spring 2020 and are actively working on this now”.

Bill Calderwood, chairman of the Arran Community Council said: “These projects were identified by the community, led by the community and will finally bear fruit for the community. There have been Arran residents registered on the Common Housing Register for 10 years or more, without hope of securing an affordable rental home, so it is great for them to know the wait will soon be over”.

The Arran Development Trust has been supported in their efforts to secure grant funding by North Ayrshire Council, along with Scottish Minister for Housing, Local Government & Planning Kevin Stewart, MSP Kenneth Gibson & Local Councillor Timothy Billings.

READ MORE: Young families are ‘frozen out of rural housing market’​

Tom Tracey, Chairman of the Arran Economic Group said: “This is a terrific achievement for the Arran Development Trust and in economic terms, it’ll be a step-change in the right direction and a major milestone on a 4-year journey to bring affordable housing to Arran.

“Arran will now be able to attract the necessary workforce and provide affordable housing to ensure folks can remain on this beautiful island enjoying one of the highest quality of life ratings in the UK. The lack and provision of affordable housing will no longer be a constraint on the local economy.”