The location comprises four blocks of accommodation; two blocks have been allocated to the Health and Social Care Partnership and the council’s resettlement team will also take over two blocks.

The council’s recent Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) has predicted that the need for supported accommodation across East Ayrshire will increase as people are living longer and a significant number of young people transition from Children’s into Adults’ Services. Therefore, the council must continue to invest and develop additional Supported Accommodation stock to meet current and emerging need.

Ross Court, also in Galston, currently offers a Moving on Service, supporting people with a diverse range of complex needs to develop independent living skills and encourage less reliance on more formal supports. This has been hugely successful in achieving its aims but is now vastly oversubscribed.

It is therefore proposed that a ‘Step-down’ model for residents at Ross Court is developed at Clinchyard Place. The Clinchyard Place accommodation consists of two blocks of four flats plus an adjoined two-bedroom house, which would provide up to nine tenancies, inclusive of a staff base.

Tenancies will be limited to a two-year duration to support a regular throughput of residents, giving sufficient time to effectively assess their longer-term support needs, and for them to develop independent living skills before moving on to an appropriate forever home thereafter. This approach will bring significant benefits for the individuals and a positive longer-term financial impact on the council.

The Scottish Government’s Ukraine Longer-Term Resettlement Fund has contributed to the development of proposals within two blocks of Clinchyard Place, Galston - as agreed by an earlier Cabinet in November 2024 and whilst uptake from the Ukrainian refugee community is still to be determined, it is likely that, given the set up of the accommodation of offer, these spaces will be allocated to single adults.

Councillor Jim McMahon, cabinet spokesperson for housing, transport and communities praised this initiative. He said: “The Clinchyard proposal is an excellent example of two of our priority services collaborating effectively to find a solution which benefits more than one cause. This approach allows Housing Services to regenerate unused and deteriorating housing for different needs.

“Under the terms of the Housing Asset Management Framework, funding from the Scottish Government can be used to bring buildings back to life for specific strategic need - in this case for more supported accommodation to help meet local demand, and also as additional homes for refugees fleeing their own countries, hoping to make East Ayrshire their new home.”

Councillor Clare Maitland, cabinet spokesperson for Health and Social Care also welcomed the proposals. She said: “Suitable accommodation is an essential element in any individual’s life and supported accommodation critically enables those individuals with disabilities to live inclusively and independently.

“Local demand for supported accommodation has increased significantly in recent times. In 2017/18 there were 76 individuals in need of this type of support; our recent Housing Needs and Demand Assessment estimates that over 220 additional spaces are required.

“Colleagues within our Health & Social Care Partnership have been working with Housing colleagues to source additional supported accommodation over and above the four new build facilities in the area. 

“With the introduction of innovative technology-enabled responder services and shared supports, individuals receiving overnight care are enabled to live more inclusively within their own homes. In the longer term, this will help to reduce the support that is required and avoid long-term inappropriate placements elsewhere.”

This approach will yield signification cost avoidance for the council over the longer term. The Cabinet has agreed a total investment of £453,242 for the first two years of implementation. This is turn will facilitate an estimated savings package of around £6,895,700 over ten years – based on the average reduction in longer-term support costs for individuals moving through Clinchyard Place every two years.

Works are likely to start early in 2025 and it is expected that it could take between six and twelve months to refurbish the properties at Clinchyard Place.