An old Perthshire police office which has stood empty for several years has been been brought back to life as part of a campaign to create more social housing.
The prominent building in Glengarry Road, Craigie, has been given a £425,000 make-over.
It was previously used as a base for Tayside Police before it was taken over by NHS Tayside and used as a convalescence centre.
The property lay empty for about five years before it was bought by Perth and Kinross Council for housing.
It is one of several disused buildings which are being brought back into use as affordable housing by the local authority. A project is underway at St Catherine’s Road to convert former shops into nine houses.
A further six homes will be created from an old children’s home in St Nimmo Place.
Meanwhile, council houses which have been empty for many years at Old Mill Road in Rattray will soon be handed over to new tenants following refurbishment.
In recent years. the local authority has created around 200 new houses and flats as part of an on-going new-build programme.
Council leader Ian Miller, who visited the Glengarry Road flats, said: “in Perth and Kinross, like all other areas of Scotland, there is a real pressure on social housing.
“We are being innovative to ease this pressure by bringing disused local buildings like this one back into use as affordable accommodation.”
He said: “There is a real shortage of one-bedroom flats in our area so the project at Glengarry Road is most welcome and I’m delighted to see it completed.”
Housing and health convenor Dave Doogan added: “This building occupies quite a prominent spot at the junction of Glengarry Road and Craigie Road, so it is fantastic to see it given a new lease of life.
“Not only will this project benefit the lives of people who live here, it will also enhance the local community environment. Bringing disused buildings back into use has been one of my priorities since I became convenor in 2012.”
Mr Doogan added: “Projects like this are made possible by our existing tenants. By paying their rent to us, we can invest in new housing for new tenants. This is social housing in action.
“As a council we are committed to increasing our affordable housing stock through programmes like this, as well as our ongoing programme of new builds and our ‘buy back’ scheme to purchase former local authority homes.”
