Two Communities Housing Trust developments have been shortlisted in the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)'s Scotland Housing Awards 2021.

The collaborative Old Sawmill development with Rothiemurchus and members of the Aviemore community has been shortlisted in the Excellence in Housing Innovation category.

The development provided a total of six self-build homes on Rothiemurchus land: four affordable plots for the local community that required no public subsidy, and two open-market plots, within the Cairngorms National Park.

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The affordable self-build homes all have the Rural Housing Burden attached, a legal title condition which protects the property's affordability in perpetuity and prioritises the local community in future sales, helping prevent holiday- and second-home ownership.

The community-led development at Achtercairn in Gairloch has been shortlisted in the Excellence in Regeneration category.

This large-scale development to regenerate a derelict brownfield site in the centre of the village provided 25 affordable homes of mixed tenures; the GALE Centre tourist information hub, community shop & cafe (Scotland's first public building to be awarded Passivhaus status); farm shop; Air Training Corps facility; and further sites for development. We worked closely with the local community and a broad range of partners including Albyn Housing Association, Gairloch & Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE), HIE, Highland Council, and University of the Highlands & Islands.

The winners of the CIH Scotland Housing Awards will be announced in a ceremony in Glasgow on 25 November 2021.