Albyn Housing Society Ltd welcomes yesterday’s announcement by Malcolm Chisholm to invest £31.5 million in affordable housing in the Highlands. Also, Albyn is pleased to announce that it is programmed to deliver £14.5 million of that spend in 2006/07.

The programme includes 259 homes in communities as widespread as Kingussie, Inverness, Nairn, Alness, Torridon, Lochinver and Golspie. Besides much welcomed new general needs housing there is a £2.5 million programme for Homestake properties in the Inner Moray Firth area and Badenoch & Strathspey. There is a lot of emphasis on sustainability, too, in the programme. A major, bio-mass district heating system in Aviemore will be one of the largest in Scotland. Over £100k will be invested in adaptations during the year to new and existing properties.

Albyn is investing significantly in its offices, as well. The head office is expanding, providing improved working conditions for its staff and a new boardroom/training suite in Invergordon. And a brand new office is under way for its Support Services in Inverness, as part of a regeneration project in the city’s Merkinch area. A largescale major repairs programme is supplying modern kitchens to 600 tenants in existing Albyn homes.

Jim Oag, Chairperson, said “We are delighted to be delivering such a large part of the Highland’s programme. Albyn is an important part of so many communities, and we welcome the opportunity to do even more for those communities. Our Homestake developments are particularly important in areas such as Inverness and the Cairngorms where rising house prices have made it impossible for many ordinary people to get in to home-ownership.”