North Ayrshire Council has announced the official opening of its newest housing development in Stevenston.

North Ayrshire Provost Anthea Dickson opened the innovative and energy-conscious new homes at Afton Court, Stevenston, on the site of former sheltered housing in the heart of the town.

The £1.34m development, supported by £0.66m of Scottish Government funding, has seen the creation of six new amenity bungalows which were built using cutting-edge and environmentally-friendly techniques.

The homes were built in sections off-site by Ayrshire firm, Connect Modular - part of the Wee House Group - before being assembled on site.

As well as cutting down on environmental waste, it helps ensure the homes are built quickly with less disruption to neighbours.

This site is the final piece of the puzzle which saw Afton Court and Caley Court sheltered housing complexes demolished, with residents moving into the new Glencairn House nearby.

The vacant sites allowed the Council to create our new supported accommodation at Caley Gardens, which has been open for residents to enjoy since January 2023, and now these six new amenity bungalows at Afton Road.

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Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Green Environment and Economy at North Ayrshire Council, said: "This is a significant development for us in a number of ways.

"Not only will it provide wonderful new town centre homes for our residents, but it is also another step on the way to our ambitious target of building more than 1,600 new homes across North Ayrshire. We are more than halfway towards that target with almost 900 new homes completed.

"While all our new homes are built with the climate crisis in mind, the Afton Court development goes a step further and saw the developers, Connect Modular, employ their innovative approach which is mindful of the environment and cuts down on waste.

"The bungalows were built in a controlled factory environment using sustainable practices, helping to reduce waste and energy required.

"The modern, energy-efficient homes have enhanced building insulation, air-source heat pumps and solar photovoltaic panels.

"We're extremely proud of this development and are delighted with the feedback we've received so far from tenants."

Richard Reid, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Connect Modular, said: "We are delighted to have partnered with North Ayrshire Council in the design, construction, and delivery of these amenity bungalows at Afton Court, Stevenston.

"Our modular construction methods were instrumental in minimising disruption to the community that closely surrounds the compact urban infill site. Furthermore, with volatile weather conditions, we were able to bring programme stability through constructing modules in our protected environment, as well as the inherent quality enhancements associated with volumetric construction."

The modular construction method employed by the company takes the home-building process offsite and into a controlled factory environment. All bungalows were constructed inside Connect Modular's Ayrshire-based manufacturing facility with kitchens, bathrooms, plumbing and electrics all pre-fitted before the different sections were assembled on site.

One of the notable advantages of this modern construction method is its environmental sustainability – there is much less waste compared to traditional building methods, while 67 per cent less energy is required to produce a modular building.