The first affordable homes in more than two decades are being built on a Hebridean island.
Colonsay islanders and people who have left the island but want to move back will be given priority for the properties.
But it is also hoped potential new residents will apply and help boost the island’s population, which has declined to just 125 people.
An appeal has been made to welcome new families to the island.
In the first phase of construction, nine homes are being built and some will be offered for sale and others for rent.
Dannie Onn, the chairman of Colonsay Community Development Company (CCDC), told BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme he hoped the homes would stop population decline on the island.
People living in temporary homes
He said that many people were living in temporary homes on the island, including in year-round caravans.
He said: “It has taken a while to get here, but the legal and financial incentives put in place by the Scottish Government to promote sustainable, self-reliant communities on the islands looks to be paying off in Colonsay.”
If successful, it is hoped a further 15 houses will be built on the island after the first phase.
CCDC said people already living in Colonsay, or who have local connections to the area through work or family, will be given priority.
Some of the properties will be for islanders working for fish farming company Mowi, and they would return to the community if and when they were no longer needed by the workers.
Ronnie MacRae, chief executive of the Communities Housing Trust, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for islanders or folk really keen to move to Colonsay.
“With the homes and the business units, it’s the full package to provide a secure, long-term future for individual families, as well as the island itself.”
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