A disused building in Perth which was formerly used by the police and NHS has been converted into affordable accommodation by Perth & Kinross Council.

The building in Glengarry Road, Craigie, has been refurbished and turned into four high quality one-bedroom flats. Tayside Police formerly used the building as a base, before it was bought by NHS Tayside and used as a convalescence centre.

The building lay empty for around five years, until it was bought by the council for use as social housing.

Council leader, Councillor Ian Miller and housing and health convener Councillor Dave Doogan visited Glengarry Road yesterday to see the new flats.

Several other disused buildings are also being brought back into use by the council as affordable housing. In St Catherine’s Road, Perth, a project is underway to convert former shops into nine housing units, and in Nimmo Place, Perth, a former children’s home is currently being refurbished to provide six housing units.

Council houses that have lain empty for several years at Old Mill Road in Rattray will also soon be handed over to new tenants following refurbishment.

The programme of refurbishing disused buildings for use as social housing is running alongside the council’s new-build programme which in itself has provided around 200 new houses and flats for local people over the past few years, and is ongoing.

Councillor Miller said: “In Perth and Kinross, like all other areas of Scotland, there is a real pressure on social housing. We are being innovative to ease this pressure by bringing disused local buildings like this one back into use as affordable accommodation.

“There is a real shortage of one-bedroom flats in our area so the project at Glengarry Road is most welcome and I’m delighted to see it completed.”

Councillor Doogan added: “This building occupies quite a prominent spot at the junction of Glengarry Road and Craigie Road, and so it’s fantastic to see it given a new lease of life. Not only will this project benefit the lives of the tenants who will live here, it will also enhance the local community environment. Bringing disused buildings back into use has been one of my priorities since I became convener in 2012.

“Projects like this are made possible by our existing tenants. By paying their rent to us we can invest in new housing for new tenants. This is social housing in action.

“As a council we are committed to increasing our affordable housing stock through projects like this, as well as our ongoing programme of new builds and our ‘Buy-Back’ scheme to purchase former local authority homes.

“I’m very happy to see this building at Glengarry Road looking so good and ready to receive new council tenants.”