Registered nurse Claire Mackie and her bus driver husband Adam have moved into a four-bedroom semi-detached house with their five children following nine years on council waiting lists.

Single parent Ryan Cossan and his three children are meanwhile now enjoying their three-bedroom semi-detached home within The Beaches development after a housing list wait of more than five years.

Their homes form part of the first phase of social landlord Osprey’s Johnshaven investment, built by local developer Fotheringham Homes and featuring six semi-detached properties — four with three bedrooms to accommodate five people, and two with four bedrooms for seven people.

New resident Mrs Mackie, who works full-time at Stracathro Hospital, as a Practice Education Facilitator, said: “This is a life-changing move for us. We had been in a two-bedroom house in Montrose, with me and my husband in one room and the children in the other, and it was very stressful.

“One of our biggest concerns had been for our eldest daughter — Darcey is thirteen now, and as a teenager she needed her own room and privacy. Now she has that.”

Darcey’s sister Daisy is eleven, brothers Callan and Blair eight and five, and sister Autumn is two.

The family were put forward to Osprey in late September after spending two years on Aberdeenshire Council’s housing list and the preceding seven on Angus Council’s.

“We first applied for social housing before Callan was born, but it’s been worth the long wait to be offered this beautiful new home,” said Mrs Mackie.

Mr Cossan had meanwhile been sleeping in the lounge to allow six-year-old daughter Harper her own room at the two-bedroom house he and his family were sharing in St Cyrus. Now he also has his own room, with sons Dylan, 11, and 10-year-old Thomas sharing the third.

“I’m so relieved to have my own space at last and we’re all overjoyed to be given the chance of this fresh start,” said Mr Cossan, an Aberdeenshire Council HGV driver.

“I’d applied for many properties over the years, and the process had definitely had a negative effect on our family life.”

Osprey director of housing Daniel Thompson said: “We work with our local authority partners to identify areas where demand for housing is high and to develop homes that meet local need.

“We are able to allocate these homes with the help of the local authorities’ waiting lists and through the online These Homes lettings service which currently has more than 5,000 live Osprey applications.”

Mr Thompson added: “We are pleased to welcome all our new tenants at The Beaches in Johnshaven and hope that they are enjoying living in these state-of-the-art properties developed by Fotheringham Homes.”

Osprey Housing is investing £2,462,437 in the Johnshaven development which when completed in spring 2023 will comprise a mix of:

• One- and two-bedroom bungalows, all built to Osprey’s standards and inclusive of full level access (including wet floor shower rooms), 926mm-wide wheelchair accessible doors, and low-maintenance gardens
• Four-bedroom semi-detached family homes offering the same features as the bungalows to accommodate mixed-ability families
• Three-bedroom semi-detached family homes.

All the properties feature air source heating and extremely high insulation levels, making them economical to run. They also have off-road parking and secure gardens.

This is the second collaboration between Osprey Housing and Fotheringham Homes and follows completion last year of their successful ‘tenure blind’ Parklands estate development at Marykirk.

The Scottish Government has contributed £1,675,428 to the Johnshaven project as part of its affordable housing programme.