The first eight houses in Ayrshire Housing’s 100 house regeneration project in Lochside, Ayr have been handed over to their delighted tenants.
Local Councillor and South Ayrshire Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing (centre right) handed the first tenants Mrs Lennon and Ms Pender (centre left) with their keys and bouquets. Their families are delighted to be returning to Gould Street following the demolition of their old homes two years ago.
The remaining houses in this £13 million Scottish Government backed project will be completed by Christmas. Alongside the redevelopment works, an exciting range of community and arts projects is being supported through the Lochside People and Place initiative.
Councillor Campbell said “I have worked tirelessly with the community to see the improvement of this part of Lochside. I’m delighted to be here to welcome the tenants to their splendid new homes. It’s good to see the work of Ayrshire Housing is being complemented by my own Council’s extensive modernisation work in the surrounding streets and the People and Place project run by Ayrshire Initiatives”.
Paul Torrance, Ayrshire Housing’s Chair commented “It’s great to see this development taking shape thanks to the support of South Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government. Housing minister Alex Neil’s promise of over £6m in Government money for affordable housing in South Ayrshire is welcome. But it is not enough. It will only fund the completion of projects like Lochside which are currently underway. There is no money however for housing associations to buy the sites and design the schemes which will create the construction jobs and affordable lets of the future”.
Mr Torrance continued “This is why Ayrshire Housing is supporting the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations’ Year of the Home Coming campaign. Bringing together Scotland’s housing associations, the STUC and Homes for Scotland, it demands that 10,000 much needed new houses for rent to be built over the year. This would secure the jobs of at least 50,000 workers and create 5.000 new apprenticeships”.
Ayrshire Housing is holding a series of “open house” events over the next two days so returning tenants and the local community can see the new houses. This includes a meet the architect session.