Hillcrest Homes has taken ownership of the first phase of an affordable housing development at Sunnyside Estate.

Representatives from Sunnyside Estate and Hillcrest were joined by Scottish Government to mark the occasion of the handover of the first 12 affordable housing units.

These 12 homes are the first properties completed of a first phase of 35 affordable homes and will comprise 8 houses and 4 cottage flats.

Work on the £4.5m first phase was started in December 2019 in partnership with Scottish Government, which contributed over £2.6m towards the project.

The homes offer a range of property types, including terraced houses, flats and unique flats developed within the hospital's former Water Tower, complete with specially adapted wheelchair accessible properties. The homes offer one, two and three bedrooms, providing good quality housing for a range of household needs.

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A second phase of homes is already underway, which will deliver an additional 59 homes and is set to be completed in early 2024.

The second phase also includes the renovation of the site's former Ward Building into a number of apartments and terraced cottages. Both phases of 94 homes in total will be for social rent.

With energy bills set to rise dramatically, the new properties also benefit from a range of energy-efficiency measures such as gas central heating, solar panels and high-performance insulation.

Amounting to an overall £12.5 million investment by Hillcrest and Scottish Government, both phases include the retention and extensive refurbishment of two of the original listed buildings – the Category C listed Water Tower and the Category B listed Ward Building, dating back as far as the late 1880s. The first tenants are expected to move in by the end of March.

Sunnyside Estate are also working in partnership with Angus Council to provide new-build shared equity properties on the development, under the government-backed New Supply Shared Equity Scheme.