Scottish housing charity LAR has completed its first deal in Fife to purchase seven brand new homes for long-term rent.

The purchase, agreed earlier this year, has now gone through with LAR taking possession of the four two-bed flats and three three-bed houses at the Blackhill Brae development in Crossgates, which have been built by Miller Homes.

LAR chief executive, Ann Leslie, is delighted the deal has been concluded: “Our first venture into Fife is an important milestone for us and we have been greatly impressed with Miller Homes and the high quality of the homes. This is our first development with them and they have built fantastic homes for us and have been very easy to deal with throughout the project.

“The three bed houses have already been allocated and we currently have only two of the two-bed flats still available. However, there has been huge interest in this development and we expect the remaining properties to go very quickly. These homes are a very welcome addition to our growing portfolio around Scotland.”

LAR, which is headquartered in Dunfermline, launched in October 2015 with the aim of providing approximately 1,000 properties at mid-market rents across Scotland over the next five years. It has over 200 properties already occupied with a further 300 in the pipeline.

Stewart Lynes, managing director of Miller Homes, said: “Regents Gate at Crossgates is an extremely popular development, attracting a broad range of buyers. We took particular care to design an attractive and well-planned development, which would compliment the surrounding local area. We are delighted to have worked closely with LAR on this project and we look forward to working with them other projects going forward.”

LAR aims to help an increasing number of tenants across Scotland who neither qualify for social housing nor can afford rents in the private sector. The organisation has already completed deals at 14 other sites across Scotland with the initial emphasis on Aberdeen, Edinburgh and the Lothians - areas with the highest private rents in Scotland.