Scotland's minister for housing praised a development of Gold Standard passive housing.

Following up on a meeting with Housing and Transport Minister Keith Brown last year, the people behind Scotland's first Gold Standard passive house welcomed him onsite at Inchkeith Drive, Dunfermline, where the low-energy technique has attracted the national accolade.

Ron Beattie of Beattie Passive gave the minister a tour of the development, which was built with a £300,000 grant.

He said: "We are delivering homes that are not only cutting fuel poverty but being built at less cost than a standard house while teaching the young unemployed to manufacture and work on-site building the next generation of homes."


Mr Brown said: "I'd like to add my congratulations to Fife Housing Association, for having delivered new Passive housing to the Gold standard. These new homes will help the Scottish Government to meet its commitments to reduce fuel poverty and address climate change."

Bryan Hay of Fife Housing Association said the "simple" construction technique allowed young people to work on the development, learning skills that would be applicable across the construction industry.

Mr Hay said: "We specifically did not want a trial concept house, but rather a system we could immediately move on to the next project. This is the fundamental reason why we are delighted to work with Beattie Passive. Another major aim of the project was to provide young adults with training and employment opportunities. Together we are pushing the boundaries and maximising the delivery of affordable housing in Fife."

(NE)