Two of the largest providers of affordable housing in Midlothian, Midlothian Council and Melville Housing Association, have been short-listed for a prestigious UK housing award for their innovation in delivering a new housing in Penicuik.

The 28-home Wester Cuiken project has been shortlisted in the 'Excellence in Housing Finance and Development' category at the Chartered Institute of Housing's UK Housing Awards.

The collaboration showcases that by working together on the development, the Council and Melville were able to make savings of £125,000, while delivering an extra six homes that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

By sharing costs and redistributing land, a total of 28 new homes were built at Wester Cuiken.

The Wester Cuiken project was also praised for the steps taken to protect tenants from rapidly rising energy prices, with the new homes designed to be as energy-efficient as possible, including solar water heating.


Midlothian Council cabinet member with responsibility for construction, Councillor Wilma Chalmers, noted: "The Wester Cuiken housing development is a fantastic example of partnership working and we are delighted at the decision to shortlist it for a prestigious UK housing award.

"The building agreement is a positive move for those people on our housing waiting list as, in addition to its own eighteen houses, the Council has the right to nominate 50% of the households to be allocated houses by Melville Housing in its ten flats."

Chief Executive of Melville Housing, Midlothian's largest registered social landlord, Andrew Noble, added: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this award and I would like to thank everyone who has helped deliver these homes. From start to finish this project has been a perfect example of two organisations with a 'can do' attitude working together with a common goal.

"At a time when funding for new housing is scarce, and yet demand for social housing remains incredibly high, there's more need than ever to deliver value for money, and the Cuiken Terrace project is a fantastic example of effective partnership delivering just that.

"We look forward to building on this successful project and exploring further opportunities with the Council in the future."

The Council and Melville will find out in November whether Wester Cuiken is a UK Housing Award winner.

The joint submission faces competition in the 'Excellence in Housing Finance and Development' category from five other affordable housing providers including City of Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire councils.

(JG/BMcC)