The investment will see 42 new homes built on the site of the former Mid Craigie Primary School, known locally as the “Rainbow” school.

Since its demolition in late 2009, the site has lain empty but negotiations are now underway to purchase the site from Dundee City Council.

A total of 30 of the homes will be for rent from Angus Housing Association with the remaining 12 being for sale by Cruden Homes. Five of the new rented homes will be for special needs identified by the council to allow the households to continue living at home. Broughty Ferry architects KDM have designed the new homes which should be on site by April 2017.

The announcement follows a very positive endorsement of the proposals at a local community consultation.

Speaking after the consultation, Angus Housing Association director, Bruce Forbes, said: “We are very pleased to be getting this project underway after years of trying to put the funding together. Progress at this time is mainly due to the increased investment in rented housing being made available by the Scottish Government to meet their laudable and ambitious target of delivering 35,000 social rented homes during the term of the current Parliament. Hopefully, our modest contribution at this site will help but most importantly, Mid Craigie residents can look forward to a derelict eyesore being transformed for a positive use.

“It was also pleasing to have the very positive endorsement of our proposals from the local community. We have been involved in the regeneration of Mid Craigie for almost 15 years now and already have nearly 250 homes for rent in the area. As well as our own tenants, many of the consultation respondents were nearby owner-occupiers and council tenants who congratulated us on our plans for the future of the estate. This is particularly encouraging as most importantly, it re-enforces our view that there is now a well established cohesive community where there was once only deprivation and alienation.”

Cruden Homes head of business development, Gill Henry, added: “The positive response from the local community now means we can now proceed with confidence to obtaining detailed Planning Consent. With a fair wind, we hope to be on site and building these much needed new homes for sale and rent by April 2017 and we are delighted to be working in partnership with Angus Housing Association which already enjoys an excellent reputation as the main social landlord in Mid Craigie.”