The new houses for affordable social rent at Kepitknow Crescent have been bought by Perth & Kinross Council at the development built by Persimmon Homes.

The four 3-bed and two 2-bed homes were handed over to the council yesterday during a visit by Housing and Social Wellbeing convener, Councillor Tom McEwan.  

The properties were purchased ‘off the shelf’ from the developer. They have been built to the highest standard, with energy efficiency measures included which will keep tenants’ bills as low as possible and reduce the carbon footprint of the development.

All of the houses have spaces included that can be used for a home office, reflecting the requirements of modern living.

Councillor McEwan said: “As a council, we are committed to increasing the number of homes for affordable social rent right across Perth and Kinross, and we are doing this in a number of ways.

“Our programme of building new council homes has provided an additional 500 houses and flats since 2012. Our innovative scheme to buy back ex-council properties has seen hundreds of new properties added to our housing stock, and we also work hard to bring empty properties back into use as council housing.

“Another way to boost affordable social housing numbers is to buy homes ‘off the shelf’ from developers, like we have done here in Kinross. We have invested £1.4m in the homes on this modern new development and is fantastic to see them completed and keys being handed over to tenants. The houses, built to a very high specification, will provide us with valuable affordable housing for tenants in an area of high demand.”

James MacKay, Persimmon North Scotland managing director, said: “We are pleased to be working with Perth and Kinross Council to deliver high-quality, affordable homes for local people.

“Collaboration is crucial to increasing housing supply and we’re committed to working closely with our partners to deliver the homes that people need.”