The provision of affordable housing that is eco-friendly has long been a concern within our community. There is also much interest in co-housing, and in co-operative ownership models.
In common with many rural areas of Scotland the Findhorn peninsula suffers from a significant shortage of affordable housing both to buy and to let.
In 2004, with the assistance of the Rural Housing Service and Development Trusts Association Scotland we conducted a survey of the local area to evaluate the level of housing need.
In 2006 the Ekopia Rules were amended to allow us to become registered as a ‘rural housing body’ with the Scottish Government.
Our current live project is:
Affordable Home Ownership At North Whins
New build one-bedroom and two-bedroom houses will become available at North Whins, The Park, Findhorn. The purchase price for these units will be reduced from market value by approximately 40%. All units are designed to a high eco specification and should have low running costs.
If you are interested, please contact the sales team at Duneland Ltd as soon as possible at info@duneland.co.uk and look at the relevant documentation provided by them for details of these
houses.
For the affordable units only, applications open on 9th October. If you wish to proceed, please apply to info@ekopia.org.uk in electronic form by noon on Monday 13th November. If you have any questions about your application or the application process, please contact this email address.
Here are:
- The overarching Allocations Policy for affordable housing at the Park Ecovillage.
- The housing support policy details how the reduced price will be delivered at North Whins.
- An application form. N.B. Late applications will not be considered. Ekopia reserves the right to charge an application fee for any formal applications.
Land & Housing Trust
This has been set up in partnership with other community stakeholders and aims to:
• Obtain amenity land to be held for collective benefit;
• Obtain finance to support those in housing need;
• Own affordable housing that can be rented or held in shared ownership;
• Provide policies so that allocations of housing support can be undertaken in an open, transparent and inclusive manner according to various agreed criteria.
The Allocations policy has the details. This sets the criteria for application for housing support awards that applies to all housing support.
Each cluster of housing has its own Housing Support Policy, which sits under this allocations policy and covers what type of housing support is available.
Other housing support opportunities are available from time to time. Please see community announcements for details.
Various other affordable housing units have been made available through this system. Below are examples.
Duneland
Following a generous offer from Duneland Ltd. and the excellent fundraising work of the “Park Housing Co-op Project” various opportunities to support community-owned affordable housing have emerged.
These projects also require the formal support of the Moray Council housing department and we are delighted that this has been provided.
In the first phase Duneland made available four housing units at the East Whins cluster – 2 x 2-bedroom flats and 2 x 2-bedroom houses at a market value (averaged) of about £175,000 for both rentals and shared ownership.
This was paid for by:
- Zero interest loans. Over £100,000 having been secured so far.
- Grants and donations. We raised over £100,000 for the first 4 units.
- By arrangement with the Moray Council a “Section 75” agreement worth up to £200,000 was made with Duneland that makes this money available for community-owned housing.
- A variable amount of the cost was provided by the occupier of the shared ownership houses.
- Ekopia arranged interest bearing loan finance to cover the balance.
This was a huge opportunity for the community. Recent figures provided via the Scottish Governments “Neighbourhood Statistics” website show that the Findhorn peninsula is one of only four places in the Highlands and islands where houses in the cheapest quartile are 11 (eleven) or more times higher than average earnings.
This means that without some kind of support system, most of our younger members find it all but impossible to get onto the housing ladder. In addition, there is a strong commitment to providing accommodation for older community members in need of palliative care.
Park Ecovillage Trust is the delivery agent for these affordable homes. Having successfully completed this venture at East Whins, we anticipate using a similar system to support subsequent developments on Duneland and ultimately creating a diversity of community-owned property. There is now another opportunity at the adjacent West Whins cluster and we are actively exploring this.
Woodside Housing Support (Currently Unavailable)
4 studios and 4 two-bedroom flats will become available for rent in June 2022 at the Woodside housing cluster at The Park, Findhorn. The rent levels are as agreed with the Scottish Rural Housing Fund and are controlled by Moray Council and/or the Scottish Government and the flats are owned and administered by Park Ecovillage Trust (PET).
Two of the units are solely ground floor properties and could accommodate someone with health or care needs; however, it would be up to the applicant to assess the floor plans and design to gauge whether the property would be suitable for their particular needs.
All units have access to a common heating system and a communal laundry facility. All the units are designed to a high eco specification and should have low running costs.
Silvertrees Housing Support (Currently Unavailable)
West Whins Housing Support (Currently Unavailable)
East Whins Housing Support (Currently Unavailable)
See also: Investment Opportunities
Soillse Cluster
In 2006, with the generous support of Duneland Ltd. we negotiated the purchase of land at a discounted price that has enabled us to provide housing support to members of the Soillse cluster.
Station House
With the further assistance of Co-operative Development Scotland, we have also helped to create and turn into practical reality a new model for housing co-operatives through this project.
In 2007/2008, we received a grant from Co-operative Development Scotland to assist with the creation of a new model for co-operative housing.
In 2008 this enabled us to form Station House Co-operative Ltd, along with our associate organisation Ecovillage Partners LLP. This was for the purpose of purchasing the historic Station House, a seven unit property in Findhorn village.
The purchase of Station House was completed in November 2008, and the work undertaken has enabled £30,000 to be available to support the provision of low cost rents at this property.
We anticipate further projects using variations on this model coming to fruition in the future.