William Rostock, 62, has been living in his new home - designed, built and owned by Invergordon-based Albyn Housing Society - since December 2009. The house is situated on the edge of the Royal Burgh of Tain, the small but thriving town in the North East of Scotland.
What makes William’s home so special is the fact it has been individually designed with his disability in mind and he was able to maintain full contact with Albyn throughout the design process. For a wheelchair user like Mr Rostock, the key adaptation of the house is the specially-designed kitchen with adjustable height surfaces including the sink unit which, simply by turning a handle, can be moved up or down depending on the needs of the user. Cheery retired joiner, William, lived in a small council house in the nearby Mansfield estate before moving in to his new home. As a result of the partnership that Albyn has with the Highland Council, he was referred to Albyn through the Highland Housing Register and describes his new home as “completely fantastic.” He said: “I absolutely cannot fault this house in any way at all, it has improved my quality of life beyond belief. “In my old council house I was really limited for space, but now with all this extra room, my carport and my specially adapted kitchen, everything is so much easier.” Donald Lockhart, Development Director at Albyn Housing Society, said: “It’s wonderful to see such a success story for one of our tenants but there are many more people like Mr Rostock whom we would also like to help. We are delighted he is so happy and it shows what can be done when priority cases are identified through joint working with the Council. It’s up to us to make sure that we make the best case for future funding to enable us to continue to build more specially adapted houses for those in need.”
Located on Juniper Drive, and part of a 30 house Albyn development of homes for affordable rent and low cost sale, is just far away enough from the busy main road to enjoy a peaceful atmosphere which is one of the things Mr Rostock most enjoys about his new home.
