Working alongside River Clyde Homes, Cullross said the site preparation works have begun to allow the 41 home development at Bay Street to start very soon.

The project is an example of excellent partnership working to transform a derelict and unused site and to deliver much needed new homes.

Inverclyde Council granted planning approval in February for 13 houses and 28 flats on the site.

The project will be partly funded through Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Investment Programme with the rest of the funding coming directly from River Clyde Homes. The new homes will be extremely energy efficient and will meet the Scottish Government’s Greener Standard.

The site sits adjacent to the Former Gourock Ropeworks building which has already been subject to refurbishment and has provided new homes. The Ropeworks building is architecturally significant and it was important that the proposed development acted to compliment the building and its surrounding environment. JM Architects have dedicated a lot of time to ensuring that they came up with a design that all stakeholders were comfortable with.

The plan is to start construction works in April 2016 with a view to the new homes being completed late summer 2017.

Steven Garry, director at Cullross, said: “We are thrilled to be working with River Clyde Homes to bring this project to fruition. It will be brilliant to see these homes finally come out the ground and help meet the need for affordable homes in Inverclyde.”

Jillian Moffat, vice-chair of the River Clyde Homes Board, added: “This gateway development of 41 homes in Port Glasgow is significant for us as it is River Clyde Homes’ first town centre new build project. The homes are built to the silver level of building regulations in respect of both carbon dioxide emissions and energy for space heating. We are happy to be once again working in partnership with the Scottish Government, Inverclyde Council, our architects and builders.”