Saline is about 5 miles north west of Dunfermline and where a very high need for affordable housing has been identified in the West Fife villages.

The project will cost £7.8 million and the Scottish Government has agreed to provide Kingdom with £3.9m subsidy to part fund the project that will provide 49 new homes for social rent and a further six for Mid Market Rent (MMR). The 55 homes are being developed by Kingdom, who will retain ownership of all the properties and will allocate and manage the social rented properties. The six MMR houses will be leased to Kingdom’s subsidiary, Kingdom Initiatives, which will manage them.

Bill Banks, Kingdom’s chief executive, said: “Projects of this nature are a bit more expensive to develop, due to a lower density design and infrastructure costs, which include new link paths, substantial drainage works. The new homes will help meet the growing needs for affordable housing in the area and they are being built to high energy efficient standards as part of our standard design criteria.”

Bill added: “Fife Council set a challenge for all affordable housing partners to deliver 2700 new affordable homes and this target is set to be achieved. The Saline project will make a contribution to this target and we are very pleased to have received the Scottish Government approval, that has allowed the project to proceed. In addition to the Scottish Government funding, Fife Council are also providing £400,000 to support the project and Kingdom have raised private funding to cover the balance of the costs.”

The houses are mainly a mix a two and three-bedroom homes, however six of the properties will be one-bedroom private access flats and all homes are being built to meet the government’s ‘Greener Standards’ to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs for the tenants.

The infrastructure works are being carried out in partnership with the developer of the nearby site and include new street lighting, road kerbing, works to roads, offsite works in connection with gas infrastructure & the provision of drainage to service the sites. The main house building contract will commence in August. There will be a phased completion, with the first new homes expected to start completing in March 2017.

Campion Homes is Kingdom’s contractor partner for the project and Dougie Herd, contracts director with Campion, said: “The provision of affordable housing is a major element of our business at Campion and we have been involved in various very successful affordable housing projects over the years. We are very pleased to be working with Kingdom on their latest project. The contract also provides us with the opportunity to deliver community benefits and this project will enable us to support local employment and training initiatives as part of an agreed programme we are progressing.”

The project has been designed by City Architects of Edinburgh, Scott Bennett Associates of Dunfermline and Hardies of Dunfermline.

Further information on the project along with details on how to apply for one of the social rented and MMR homes is available on Kingdom’s website www.kingdomhousing.org.uk.