Housing minister Kevin Stewart has officially opened the second phase of a popular Aberdeenshire development for Osprey Housing.

Mr Stewart was visiting the new homes at Blackdog and met some of the tenants who have just moved into the £3.6 million development.

The second phase at Blackdog consists of 15 units and is a mix of social and mid market rental (MMR) homes.

Osprey chief executive Glenn Adcook said: “We are delighted that the Minister has been able to open our new development at Blackdog, which has proved to be extremely popular. In particular the three-bed MMR homes which, in addition to the social rented homes, are meeting real needs and this highlights the benefits of mixed tenure developments. Blackdog offers the perfect mix of city and rural living, situated just two miles from Aberdeen yet also within easy reach of the coastal walks and beaches.”

The site was developed with the help of a £1.5m grant from the Scottish Government. Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “We are determined to increase and accelerate housing supply across Scotland to reach our ambitious target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes, backed by over £3 billion investment during the lifetime of this Parliament.

“I’m delighted to open the second phase of this popular development and that our investment has helped to provide an excellent mix of social and mid-market rental homes.

“Blackdog is a great example of how partnership working can deliver good quality homes with a range of sizes and tenures that suit the needs of local people and families, enabling them to remain within their communities.”

Among the first tenants to move into the development are John Forsyth, his partner Emma Bugden and their two young children. They have moved into a three-bed mid market rental home.

Miss Bugden, who works at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, said: “Moving to Blackdog has made a massive difference to our lives and we were delighted to get the opportunity to move to such a high quality home. I don’t think we would have been able to afford an equivalent property in the private sector even if we had been able to locate one. We now live close to my mum, which means the kids and I can see much more of her.”

The social rented homes at the development will be let in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council.

Chair of the council’s communities committee, Councillor Anne Stirling, said: “We are committed to increasing the availability of affordable housing and accelerated schemes such as this development at Blackdog are an important part of that.

“Over the next five years, we hope to deliver around 2,600 new affordable homes across Aberdeenshire as part of our strategic housing investment programme by working with partners like Osprey Housing.”

Osprey Housing has 27 homes in total at Blackdog, which is part of the Group’s £30.9m development plans for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray to 2020.