15 affordable homes to be built on church site

NEW affordable homes planned on the site of a former church are among 500 set to be built by a Leith housing association within five years.

Work on the site of Granton United Church on Boswall Parkway is expected to begin next month and will take a year to complete. The development will bring 15 one, two and three-bedroom homes to the area as part of a major housing development in the Leith and waterfront areas of the city.

It is one of a number of development initiatives by Port of Leith Housing Association (Polha) which will provide affordable housing across Edinburgh's waterfront.

The association recently spent 2.95 million buying land, and will spend 22.5m developing these projects.

Alongside the development at Granton United Church is a 60-home site at Coburg Street. Work has already begun on this project.

A further 17 homes at West Granton Road will be available by 2011. These will be the first built by Polha to be approved by the Edinburgh Sustainability Standards, and feature solar roof panels to provide heating and hot water.

Outline planning permission for another 98 homes at Fox Street and Poplar Lane - of which 40 will be shared ownership with tenants - has already been granted and a final detailed application has been lodged with the council.

Work is set to begin next year and be completed by 2013.

The most impressive building of the new developments is the six-storey Lindsay Road site, where many properties will feature balconies looking over the water. Work is set to begin next year and is expected to take two years to complete.

The developments have been boosted by more than 5.6m of grants allocated by Edinburgh City Council.

Keith Anderson, chief executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, said: "These are significant projects and highlight our strategy for revamping the traditional Leith, as well as developing the new waterfront projects."

Leith councillor Marjorie Thomas said: "I think Port of Leith Housing Association has done very well picking up the slack at a time when private developers aren't doing so well.

"There is great demand for social housing in Edinburgh and this will allow many people who live in ageing social housing to find new accommodation."