The new development of 64 high quality, sustainable and affordable homes, is a mix of family homes, lower and upper colony and cottage flats.

All houses and flats benefit from air source heating systems and have an energy efficiency “B” SAP rating. There is a mix of driveways and non-allocated parking.

Eildon’s chief executive Nile Istephan said: “This new development is another step towards addressing the acute housing need in the Scottish Borders with the local authority recently announcing a housing emergency for our region. For this development, we received up to 84 bids per home, highlighting the huge demand.

“We had some massive obstacles to overcome on this site but strong partnership working with the Scottish Government, Building contractor Cruden, Scottish Borders Council, Aitken Turnbull Architects, Fairhurst Engineers and KLM Partnership and great links with the local community got this project over the line. A great accomplishment for everyone involved.”

As well as regenerating this site, Eildon’s investment brought benefits to the people of Earlston with an upgrade by Scottish Water to serve the whole of the town. There were also many community benefits delivered through Cruden’s, working with the town’s community council and local primary school. One of the projects was two magnificent mosaics created by local artist Joy Parker with the assistance of the children from Earlston Primary School.

Richard Crowther, director at Cruden, said: “We are delighted to deliver this superb development of new, low carbon homes which use significantly less energy than conventional homes, thanks to a number of green measures including air source heat pumps.

“Not only will these new homes make a big difference to those living here, we have also delivered valuable new jobs and training opportunities and worked with community groups and local schools to create a lasting legacy for the wider local area for generations to come. The mosaics are a fantastic example of community collaboration in action.”

Joy Parker said: “It was a delight working with the children of Earlston Primary School – everyone played a part and placed their own mosaic tiles into the design, based on pictures drawn by the children of the local fable ‘Thomas the Rhymer of Earlston’. In years to come, it is nice to think that these children will be able to visit this site and remember the part they played in this fantastic art project.”

The total cost of the project was £12.8 million, comprising £6,970,000 from the Scottish Government, £200,000 grant from Scottish Borders Council and Eildon providing private finance £5,640,000.