In November 2014 we were awarded funding from the Scottish Government’s Learning Network Challenge Fund to find out more about local attitudes to housing need through a series of workshops.  Our idea was to kick off a discussion about housing within the community.  We wanted to, in the context of housing, explore new ideas, add to local knowledge and encourage the idea of community-led exploration and development of housing in the community.

This gave us a much clearer understanding of the issues impacting on housing in our community. We had a unique set of challenges within our community: an oversupply of existing, unwanted, unsuitable housing, and a lack of land to build new housing (due to flood risk).  We had young people who didn’t necessarily see having a home of their own as a goal, and for whom there are not the jobs or education opportunities to remain in the community anyway.  We had older people who would like to remain in their community but were put off by lack of suitable amenity housing, support mechanisms and the vulnerability of services in the village.  The challenge for us was to change perceptions about how housing should be delivered – away from the traditional models of council or housing association-provided social housing, and towards community housing where we could meet these challenges with our own solutions.

In August 2016 we were awarded money from the Scottish Land Fund and the Scottish Government’s Rural Housing Fund to carry out feasibility work on community housing in Moniaive. We commissioned Dumfries & Galloway Small Communities Housing Trust to carry out a Housing Needs & Demands Survey.

The Feasibility work then identified suitable properties for consideration, from several that were long-term unoccupied.   For our first project, we decided to focus on the housing needs of older members of our community, and so identified an opportunity to convert an existing empty property into a fully-accessible two-bedroom unit.  We commissioned an Architect to draw up initial plans for conversion.  In late 2017 we tendered for the works.

In May 2018 we received an offer of funding from Scottish Government Rural Housing Fund, and at the end of 2018 a further grant offer from the SSE Dumfries & Galloway Sustainable Development Fund completed our funding package.  In August 2019 we purchased Number 12 Sawmill Green, Moniaive.

Work commenced on the building renovation and refurbishment in early October 2019. Progress was unfortunately delayed by the Covid Pandemic, and work on site had to stop for over two months.  During this time we worked with DGSCHT to update our Register of Interest, and then to select our first tenant.

Work re-started in July, and was finished early in August 2020. Main Contractor, J&W Vernon, and his team of subcontractors, did an excellent job of the extensive refurbishment works and have transformed the property.   Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid situation and the need to maintain social distancing, we were unable to hold an open-house to show off the interior before our tenant moved in, or even cut at ribbon to ‘open’ the house officially.  Our new tenant took up residence, and was very happy with the house. We welcome Mrs Edwards back to Moniaive, and wish her all the best in her new home.

In February 2021 Moniaive won the award for “Best Long Term Empty Homes Restoration Project”at the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership Annual Awards Ceremony. A big Thank You to Mike Staples of (SOSCH) for collecting the award for us, and to SOSCH for all their help along the way. Thanks also go to the Rural Housing Fund and SSE Renewables for funding the project; to our main Contractor, JW Vernon Ltd, for completing the project under very difficult circumstances; and to all the local volunteers who helped us to make this project happen.