West Whins
PET tenants enjoy a thriving social life with their immediate neighbours
In 2016 PET raised funds for, and in 2017 built a cluster of 6 small flats on the West Whins (WW) site of the Findhorn Ecovillage.
Small one bed-room flats were chosen for the West Whins cluster to complement the relatively big East Whins homes to have a wider range of properties in our portfolio.
Scottish Government Funding
To make “affordable” sustainable, we chose a funding strategy that prioritised borrowing within the Community (through Ekopia and private loans) and an application to the Scottish Rural Housing Fund (RHF).
Two Community members offered PET their pension funds as a loan, for a total of £140,000; and another person came to Ekopia offering a £100,000 loan. The Scottish Ministers decided to grant our project £130,000. The land was effectively gifted by Duneland for a nominal fee.
Design
Designed to a high eco-specification, the flats have low running costs. The Energy Performance Certificates of Nov 2017 for the construction are:
2 storey : 42m²; Energy efficiency B81 (Sco D61) and CO2 impact B90 (Sco D59)
1 storey : 38m²; Energy efficiency C79 (Sco D61) and CO2 impact B88 (Sco D59)
GreenLeaf Build and Design, a local young builder, constructed our combined concept.
