Highland councillors have visited a 'pioneering' project which will provide a completely new concept for social housing.

Local ward members and councillors were inspecting the first prototype of one bedroom apartments commissioned by the council for Kendal Court in Alness.

Developed and designed by JNESpace and manufactured by Carbon Dynamic, the social housing project is the first of its kind in Scotland and delivers fully assembled buildings which are ready for tenants to move into on delivery to site.

The eight one bedroom apartments are being manufactured, fitted out and furnished in Carbon Dynamic's Invergordon factory.

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They are designed to ensure good levels of comfort, thermal performance and energy efficiency, with the project partners in discussion with Napier University to monitor the flats energy usage over the next few years.

Councillor Audrey Sinclair said: "This is a very exciting way in which we are addressing housing needs in the community.

"These innovative one-bedroomed units are built to a high quality, easy to install, extremely well-insulated making them inexpensive to heat. They can be built more quickly and to higher quality than traditional homes as they are built at the factory and then transported to site - saving both in time and material wastage and hence cost."

Off-site manufacture has meant the site works and foundations can be carried out at the same time as the modules are being manufactured in the factory, leading to a significantly shorter overall programme.

The apartments will be complete and ready for tenants to move into in October.

(LM)