Lairg MSP visits innovative new social housing in the village

The MSP for Lairg, Maree Todd, visited the village recently to inspect new social housing developed by Albyn Housing Society. The £2.3m development of eight new specialist dwellings represents the first new social housing in the village since the 1990s.
During her visit, Maree met with one of the new tenants, Eilidh Matheson, who moved into her new home a few months ago, as well as Executive Director of Group Services for Albyn Housing Society, Andrew Martin.

The new housing comprises four two-bedroom wheelchair accessible bungalows and four one-bedroom Fit Homes with stunning views of Loch Shin. The state-of-the-art Fit Homes, pioneered by Albyn Housing Society as part of the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal, utilise predictive behaviour pattern sensors and harness artificial intelligence and machine learning to allow tenants to live independently for longer.
The sensors share real-time information with family members, caregivers or key workers who have access permission. Yet unlike cameras, they still offer a high degree of privacy to their occupants.
The development is on derelict land which has lain empty since the demolition of the Sutherland Arms in 2007, with the street name, Sutherland Arms Way. recognising the former occupant of the land. The land has been donated by the local community group, Lairg Community Development Initiatives (LCDI).

Albyn, which has 3,800 homes in over 80 rural communities across the Highlands, is one of the largest social housing providers in the area. They used a local contractor, Compass Building & Construction Services, to deliver the new homes. Some tenants were able to move into their new home two months ahead of the schedule because Compass completed the project earlier than planned.
The development was made possible with £200,000 from Inverness and Highland City Region Deal, £600,000 from Albyn Housing Society, with the rest of the funding coming from the Scottish Government’s More Homes division and The Highland Council. The completion of the four Fit Homes in Lairg mean that there are now 49 of the cutting edge homes across the Highlands, including in Nairn, Dingwall, Dalmore and Inverness, with more planned in Ullapool.

Maree Todd MSP, who represents Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said after her visit:
“These Fit Homes from Albyn are packed with thoughtful innovations that support folk to live independently in their own communities. It was great to hear directly from tenants like Eilidh about the huge difference this technology can have on someone’s life.
“It’s important for people to have the opportunity to grow old in their own community and more innovations like this will ensure this is a possibility in the future.”

Andrew Martin, Executive Director of Group Services said: “Our Fit Homes enable residents to live independently in their own homes for longer, often allowing them to stay within their local community. This is particularly beneficial in rural areas like Lairg, where alternative social care options can be quite far away.
“It was very useful to discuss with the local MSP, Maree Todd, about how important this technology is and how it will be even more useful in the future. Eilidh is just one of dozens of our tenants who are living in one of our Fit Homes across the Highlands.
“All of the Albyn team are immensely proud of this new development at Lairg where we have delivered this first new social housing in almost 30 years. The feedback so far from tenants has been excellent.”