The first new housing development in a north Skye community for almost 20 years moved a step closer this week.
An application to build six affordable houses on common land in Staffin has been lodged with Highland Council.
The local community has seen a significant population decline and shrinking primary school roll in recent years and it is hoped the new homes will help to retain and attract families.
Staffin Community Trust, SCT, is working in partnership with the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust, HSCHT, and Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association, LSHA, to deliver the new development, the first to be built since 1999.
The proposed site on land near Staffin Primary School, will include a building for business units and a storage facility, and the design by Rural Design Architects was produced following a consultation with members of the local community. The Scottish Government’s Rural Housing Fund, RHF, and the Scottish Land Fund funded the planning and feasibility work.
An economic report carried out for SCT last year found that, between 2009-2013, the local population dropped by 6.6 percent from 608 residents down to 568.
A major affordable housing needs survey in Staffin, funded by Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and published in 2014, found that new homes are required to retain and attract families and young people.
The island’s capital, Portree, 17 miles south of Staffin, has had a significant number of affordable homes built in recent years. Its population has grown by 11 per cent in the last decade and some local people from more rural communities have had no alternative but to accept housing in the town.
Local politicians including MSPs Kate Forbes and David Stewart have welcomed the development and families in Staffin have already expressed an interest in the new homes.
If given the green light, two of the properties would be owned by SCT, two by HSCHT and two by LSHA.