His comments come as tenants of Wheatley Homes South moved into the 47 homes in the village near Kirkcudbright, with the final handover taking place in September.

The development, just off the A75, is a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes for social rent. The new homes are designed to be highly energy efficient with an energy rating of A. Photovoltaic panels, which will convert sunlight to energy, have also been installed on the roofs.

Ashleigh Building built the new houses, supported by £7.7 million funding from the Scottish Government.

Children from Springholm Primary School filled a time capsule with mementoes to mark the completion of the development. The pupils were joined by staff from Wheatley Homes South and Ashleigh Building to plant the items, which included a school jumper, photos and a letter, next to the school’s play park.

Wheatley Homes South customer Robert Anderson, 61, was one of the first tenants to move into the new development, along with his wife Fiona and their six-year-old border terrier Kona.

He said: “It’s a lovely house in a lovely area. My daughter stays at the other end of Springholm and has a son at the school, so he can come and see nana and papa regularly and that’ll be great for us.

“All my family are really happy and keen to see me settled and hopefully get back into work at some stage. I hope this is our forever home now.”

Alex Lamb, managing director at Wheatley Homes South, said: “I am delighted to hear that Robert is happy with his new home and is joining others in settling into the area.

“This is Wheatley’s first development in Stewartry and has delivered 47 new affordable and energy efficient homes. These attractive new homes will play an important role in tackling the housing demand that exists across Dumfries and Galloway.

“Thanks to the support of our partners at Scottish Government and Dumfries and Galloway Council we’ve been able to deliver this fantastic development for tenants and the community.

“The feedback we’ve had from tenants has been tremendous and they are very excited about setting up their new lives in this very desirable development.”