Kingdom Housing Association chair Linda Leslie and group chief executive Tom Barclay greeted the minister alongside partners and colleagues for the tours of the strikingly different developments.

Bertha Park in Perth is a mixed-tenure site where Kingdom has, to date, provided 119 homes for social rent and 28 homes for mid-market rent, managed by Kingdom Initiatives, over two build phases.

Phase three is due to start at the end of July with a further 41 homes being developed for social rent. Working in partnership with Perth & Kinross Council and Springfield Properties, the £21m project at Bertha Park has been delivered with Scottish Government funding of £10.8m and additional financial support from Perth & Kinross Council. The masterplan for Bertha Park means that up to 3,000 much needed homes will be delivered in total, in a mixture of outright sale and affordable housing, between Kingdom Group and its partners.

While on a tour of Bertha Park, the minister was also welcomed into the homes of two customers, Jennifer Cooper and Fiona Mackay, who were delighted to share the positive impact safe, secure and affordable housing has had on their lives.

At Balgove Road, Gauldry, Mr McLennan was shown around Kingdom’s development of 30 homes for social rent. The homes are all built to the rigorous Passivhaus standard, making them some of the most energy-efficient homes in the country.

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “The right to a warm, safe and affordable home is critical to wellbeing and is a right everyone deserves. Kingdom Housing Association plays a valuable role in increasing the range of housing available to rent throughout Scotland, and I was delighted to see these two developments, which the Scottish Government has supported with £14.7 million of funding. This funding will enable Kingdom Housing Association to provide - across both sites - a total of 218 much needed high quality energy-efficient affordable homes.

“High quality housing is a key pillar of Housing to 2040, whilst also eradicating fuel poverty and homelessness and ensuring everyone has access to green space and essential services, and I welcome these new affordable homes in Perth and North East Fife.”

The total project cost at Gauldry is £6.9m with funding of £3.9m provided by the Scottish Government and with further support provided by Scottish Water. The project is scheduled to complete in September 2023 with properties being allocated from the Fife Housing Register.

Linda Leslie, chair of Kingdom Housing Association, added: “In 2012 Kingdom was the first Housing Association in the UK to achieve Passivhaus accreditation with a home for social rent. A little over ten years later, and we’re proud that we can offer 30 of these enormously energy-efficient homes to our customers. From an environmental perspective, the efficiency of these homes together with zero-carbon heating, solar panels and electric vehicle charging points just make sense.

“More than that though, homes like these help support our customers through the cost of living crisis by being more affordable to comfortably live in as part of a drive at Kingdom Group to bring down the total cost of running a home for our customers.“

Tom Barclay, Kingdom Group chief executive, said: “Achieving Passivhaus accreditation brings with it some unique challenges, from using an approved supply chain to additional documentation, but the benefits for our customers and the climate are undeniable. At the Kingdom Group our mission is to provide more than a home and being able to reduce the economic burden that exists with the cost of fuel at the moment can help us deliver on that objective.”