A new council housing development in the King Street area of Cowdenbeath is now ready to become homes for the first tenants.

The 21 Fife Council homes which have Secure by Design status are a mix of one, two, four, five and seven-bedroomed houses including flats, amenity and wheelchair-accessible bungalows.

Secure by Design is Police Scotland accredited which means that they assess all sites before, during and after construction to give their approval that the properties meet criteria securing them from potential crime.

Tracy Rankin, moved into her new property on King Street in May and was very pleased in her new home. These new houses allow the council to look at the changing needs of families and provide fit for purpose housing, when circumstances change.

Mrs Rankin said: “Since moving into King Street it has given George, my father-in-law, a better quality of life. He doesn’t need to struggle up and down stairs anymore and has his own bedroom and bathroom downstairs. It also allows my son to have his own bedroom again as we moved from a two bed where he shared a bedroom with his grandad. The move was instead of an extension to our existing property.”

Work is also progressing well on Phase 2 of the development which is part of a wider programme that will deliver 2,700 new affordable houses for Fife by 2017. These will be completed before March 2017.

The eight properties in this stage of the development will comprise two-bedroomed houses, two-bedroomed wheelchair-accessible bungalows and two-bedroomed bungalows suitable for varying needs.