First House Sites Allocated

The Trust’s plans to increase the local population through welcoming new families to the area have taken their first positive steps. A number of house sites in Luskentyre and Horgabost have been offered to and accepted by would-be self-builders.

The sites all have outline planning permission and on receipt of a deposit the applicants are given up to 2 years to secure full planning permission and to pay the balance of the purchase price. At least some of the purchasers are keen to move faster than this and hopefully we will see some projects starting next year. In later articles we will introduce you to some of them.

The Trust is aware that building is not an option for some and so we are also actively looking at possibilities for the Trust to build housing for rent. The Trust has held initial talks with Tighean Innse Gall (the local housing development agency) and both parties are keen to develop a joint project in West Harris. Further discussions will take place over the next few months with the aim of coming up with a firm proposal for starting a development next year.