Midlothian Council has announced the development of 182 new 'green' council homes, all of them being built to meet the demanding 'Passivhaus' building standard.

Cabinet Member for Housing Cllr Stephen Curran said: "I am very proud to say Midlothian Council is at the forefront of making sure our council tenants can live in affordable, warm and energy saving homes, which is good news for them – especially as we are all facing soaring utility bills – while helping us towards our ambition of being a carbon neutral council by 2030."

Six homes are already being built to the standard at Buccleuch St in Dalkeith.

A further 46 homes with extra care are to be built at Polton Street, Bonnyrigg; 20 homes are planned at Burnbrae in Bonnyrigg; 20 more Passivhaus homes will be on Bonnyrigg High Street and further work will begin on 90 homes on the site of the former Newbattle High School in Easthouses. All of these homes will be council homes for social rent.

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This project is the largest Passivhaus housing development programme in Scotland.

Building homes to this green energy standard is a key element of Midlothian Council's route to Net Zero by 2030.

Professor Sean Smith, director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure at the University of Edinburgh's Edinburgh Futures Institute said: "Building to Passivhaus standard for our new homes supports the step change towards lower energy bills, improved comfort all year round and contributes towards reducing emissions to address climate change. Importantly it provides a pathway for Midlothian to underpin Scotland's growth in the green economy and jobs whilst supporting an inclusive community approach."

The Passivhaus standard was developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany. The standard sets out stringent requirements that ensures what is built is literally a 'Passive House' that requires very little energy to heat and then recovers that heat to re-use within the home.