Bell Contracts was appointed to undertake extensive works following a competitive procurement exercise through Public Contracts Scotland. This project is a fresh start for Elm Court and a huge commitment from Eildon to make sure this development meets the needs of current and future tenants within the town. The 30 original flats built in the 1990s have been refurbished and structurally altered into 21 general needs modern sustainable homes.

As part of this refurbishment, it was important that existing tenants were consulted. Their feedback helped with the design process and potential improvements to the homes. Follow-up meetings also included discussions for planned re-housing of affected tenants and to talk through specific housing needs and how we could best support their move.

Following the consultation, the 21 ‘green’ homes were designed which would:

• Combine smaller, 1 bedroom/1person flats into larger, more flexible flats with improved space
• Improve thermal efficiency and replace the ageing electric storage heaters with modern ‘green’ air-source heat pumps
• Reduce noise transfer between flats
• Replace windows, doors, wiring, kitchens and bathrooms.

Nile Istephan, chief executive of Eildon, said: “We’re really pleased the new flats are finally ready and our tenants will be moving in throughout August. Unfortunately, there have been extensive delays with this project due to the major UK-wide problem of getting homes connected to power supplies. This has been frustrating for everyone involved. We’d like to thank all neighbours for their patience during the protracted works, and especially our tenants who have had a long and difficult wait.

“We hosted a well-attended open afternoon on Friday 5 August to showcase the great works that have taken place and I am confident our tenants will be very happy in these fully modernised, sustainable new homes.”

The entire project cost for this development was circa. £1.9 million with £400k grant from the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The design team included Aitken Turnbull Architects, Wardell Armstrong (structural & civil engineer), Harley Haddow (mechanical & electrical) and Thomson Gray (quantity surveyor).