Fife estate secures cash for housing

The Courier, 30 July 2009

An East Neuk estate is to receive Scottish Government cash to help to build 10 affordable homes as part of a £5 million development.

Cambo Estate at Kingsbarns has successfully applied to the government’s Rural Homes for Rent scheme, and joins other landowners and community groups in a project that will see 75 homes created in pressured housing areas.

The announcement was made yesterday by housing and communities minister Alex Neil, who said that the funding will make a real difference, and will provide good quality homes that people can afford.

“These are challenging economic times for small businesses and families in rural communities so we are doing everything we can to support them,” he said.

A warm welcome has also come from the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, whose chairman Luke Borwick said that affordable housing is central to the sustainability of our rural communities, and the SRPBA has long contended that the private rented sector has a greater role to play in its provision.

“We are delighted that the Scottish Government is providing financial support to rural landowners to develop quality homes in a cost-effective manner,” he said.

The Cambo scheme is the only one in Fife. Other locations include estates in Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Highland, Moray, and Perth and Kinross—where Atholl Estates will build two homes.

On the west coast, separate cash is paying for more than 240 new affordable rural homes in Oban and Lochgilphead with the help of accelerated funding from the Scottish Government’s economic recovery plan.

There were 67 expressions of interest, and 12 pilot projects, including Cambo, were selected.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said that a grant application has to have confirmation from the local authority that there is a housing need for the area that is otherwise not being met.

“The decision on the successful applicants is made in consultation with us and the local authority who ensure it is consistent with their local housing strategy.”

Fife Council said that any proposed development would still have to go through the formal planning application process.

The final draft of the local plan for St Andrews and east Fife identifies two possible areas for development at Kingsbarns, one of them to the west of the square with an estimated capacity of 40 homes, and the other to the south-west of the village, with no number of houses specified.

The Cambo applicant, Sir Peter Erskine, was not available for comment.