A £5.4 million housing development in Orkney was officially opened by First Minister Alex Salmond on Friday.

Mr Salmond met residents moving into new properties from the second (final) phase of The Meadows development in Kirkwall, as well as representatives of Orkney Housing Association Ltd which delivered the project, the developers Andrew Sinclair and Orkney Islands Council.

The development, backed by £3.9 million Scottish government funding, provides a total of 36 affordable homes for rent or shared ownership.

Opening the development Mr Salmond, who pledged continued Scottish government support for affordable homes across the country, said: "This investment is a 'win-win' for local communities as it both provides much-needed new homes for families and creates and sustains skilled jobs in Scotland's construction sector - a key part of our economic recovery plan."

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Orkney Housing Association Chief Executive Sally Inkster commented: "We are very happy to welcome the First Minister to Orkney and to have this opportunity to show him how Orkney Housing Association is using Scottish government funding to provide much needed housing in the isles.

"The level of housing need and homelessness in Orkney continues to be a major challenge and we are grateful that the Scottish government recognises this when allocating funds for our affordable housing programme."

Helen Leel, a new resident in Meadow Crescent, added:"It will make an enormous difference having a good quality, secure and affordable home in which to bring up our three boys. Having Alex Salmond present us with our new keys is the icing on the cake."

The Scottish government is investing more than £1.5 billion over the current Spending Review period on affordable housing - 19% more expenditure than planned under the previous administration.

The Scottish government is continuing to press the UK government to allow an acceleration of capital spending from 2011-12 into next year (2010-2011), to speed up the delivery of vital infrastructure projects, including new affordable housing, and support local construction jobs.

The Meadows provides a range of 1-4 bedroom bungalows - 24 for rent and 12 available through shared ownership. The first phase was completed in January and the project was finished earlier this week.

The funding was: £3.9m from the Housing Association Grant provided by the Scottish government; £968,000 bank loan; £464,000 from sales; and Orkney Housing Association contributing the remainder.

(GK/KMcA)