Dounby housing project takes a step forward

Eight new Dounby homes could be built by Orkney Islands Council (OIC), subject to a full business case being put together.

Six one-bedroom homes, one two-bedroom home and one three-bedroom home, are invisaged at the Makerhouse site.

This is a mix which, the council feels, reflects the profile of housing need in Dounby — where the majority of applicants require smaller accommodation.

Progress on the project was shared by School Place, this week, after its education, leisure and housing committee recommended that it should be moved forward to stage two of the council’s capital project appraisal.

This means that a full business case will now be put together for the policy and resources committee to scrutinise, subject to this step forward being ratified by a full council meeting at the end of this month.

If the development goes ahead, it is hoped that it would provide additional opportunities for people to live and remain within the Dounby community. 

The project is part of OIC’s strategic housing investment plan which sets out the authority’s affordable housing development priorities over a five-year period.  

That plan is informed by the local housing strategy, approved in June 2024, which established a housing supply target of 103 homes per annum over ten years, with a 60/40 split between affordable and private housing.