Visit of Minister for Housing and Transport 

During his visit to Orkney on 10^th July 2012, Keith Brown MSP, Minister for Housing & Transport, will be visiting two housing developments of Orkney Housing Association (OHAL) and Orkney Islands Council (OIC).

At Lynn Crescent he will remove the first block from OHAL’s disused boiler house to commence its conversion to a dwelling house; a project funded from the Scottish Government’s Innovation and Investment Fund. The building is to be retro-fitted to Passivhaus standards which provide such a highly insulated and airtight building envelope that it will require no additional heating beyond that which is generated from normal domestic appliances and activities.  This will make it the most northerly building to be certified to this Standard of energy efficiency.

Mr Brown will then visit the joint OIC and OHAL housing project at Peerie Sea Loan where he will see how the Council and the Association have worked to together to construct a 40 unit development of rented and shared ownership properties.  He will also see the adjacent construction being undertaken by Orkney Builders (Contractors) Ltd funded by the Scottish Government’s Innovation and investment Fund.

At Peerie Sea Loan he will meet Gemma Floyd and her family who moved into an OHAL property in November 2011 and hear first hand the benefits that new affordable housing can provide for young Orkney families.