North Ayrshire Council has announced the successful completion of a new housing development in Arran.

Despite the challenges posed by the Covid restrictions, construction of the 34 properties was completed earlier this year, with tenants already having already moved into their new homes and enjoying their new surroundings.

The £6.8million development – supported by Scottish Government funding of £2.3 million – includes a mix of general needs homes, wheelchair liveable properties and amenity bungalows.

Officially opening the development, North Ayrshire Provost Anthea Dickson said: "The delivery of the new homes on Arran was not without challenges and although the Covid 19 restrictions and the global supply chain issues caused some delays, we were delighted to see the homes handed over to the new tenants.

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"It has been worth the wait to provide much-needed new homes on the island, where affordable housing is a major issue."

Representatives from developers Ashleigh Scotland Ltd and hub South West attended the official opening of the homes – the first council housing to be built on Arran for more than 20 years.

Colin Pyke, Area Director for Ashleigh Scotland Ltd, said: "We were pleased to hand over the final units at Brathwic Terrace, Brodick to North Ayrshire Council as part of the contract with hub South West.

"There were considerable challenges during the delivery of the works, not least COVID, but we are delighted with the quality of the finished product."

Michael Ross, Chief Executive of North Ayrshire Council's Development Partner hub South West, said: "We are proud of the collective effort of all parties in delivering these high quality homes during the covid pandemic.

"We have now delivered over 370 homes for North Ayrshire Council, and this has fed in to £30 million of work packages across being awarded to local North Ayrshire companies who we continue to support via a range of initiatives aimed at enabling them to tender for work."