KINGDOM Housing Association has welcomed a range of invited guests to its annual site tour, with the event showcasing new projects and recently completed developments in the East Neuk area of Fife.
Kingdom chair, Linda Leslie, and group chief executive, Tom Barclay, greeted board members, tenants, staff, stakeholders, and partners at the association’s HQ in Glenrothes before embarking on a day of touring Fife.
The tour began in Leven with three developments being visited. Hawkslaw Road and Station Road have recently been completed and provide 45 affordable mid-market rented homes. The nearby Glenlyon Place was completed in 2003 providing a mix of social rent and shared ownership homes, and demonstrates Kingdom’s commitment to affordable housing in the area.
Mansfield, St Monans, was the next stop where the development of 40 social rent homes is underway due for completion in summer 2023. The homes are being built to Silver Levels 1 and 2 Sustainability Standard with a diverse housing mix consisting of larger family homes, cottage flats and amenity and wheelchair bungalows.
The Grange in St Andrews is described as a ‘unique’ partnership project with the University of St Andrews, providing 62 affordable homes for post-graduate students and academics. This development will have a mix of cottage flats for rent with 14 of the properties being houses for multiple occupancy.
The tour visited Guardbridge where guests were able to walk around the 96 homes from Phase 1 and 2 of Toll Road. With a mix of social rent and mid-market rent properties, the development has delivered community benefits in addition to affordable housing.
The day ended with a visit to Kingdom’s Passivhaus development in Gauldry. 30 homes for social rent are due for completion in July 2023 and are all built to the Passivhaus standard. Being more energy-efficient is a benefit to the environment and also to the tenants who can expect to see reduced fuel consumption in their homes.
Linda Leslie, chair of Kingdom Housing Association, said, “At Kingdom we’re very proud of the homes we develop, the communities we help build, and the work we do across all of our services. Our mission is to provide more than a home and that’s something that colleagues across the Kingdom Group are dedicated to delivering.
“Our annual project tour not only gives Board members a chance to see the range, quality, and scale of homes we provide, but it also allows us to meet the staff and other partners we work with and gives us an opportunity to get to know them better.”
Tom Barclay, Kingdom Group chief executive, added, “The annual project tour is a regular and much anticipated event in Kingdom’s calendar. It gives our guests an insight into the work being done across the group in terms of the homes we’re providing; homes that are vital and genuinely life-changing.
“It gives us an opportunity to talk about the communities we’re working in, the jobs and apprenticeships we’re creating, and the ways we’re helping our customers tackle the cost of living crisis. But most importantly it’s a chance to have great conversations about the future and how we can continue to provide more than a home for our customers.”
