Creating affordable housing for island communities

Our farms are located in extremely rural and remote areas of the Highlands where housing stock is in short supply. Nowhere is the shortage of affordable housing more acute than in island communities. A fish farm creates jobs for local people living on the island and can also attract new people or enable people to return home to the island for long term employment. But a farm is unviable without housing for those who work on it.

Working together with local communities, we have been able to create affordable housing on Rum and Muck over the last few years and we are extremely pleased that an agreement has now been reached which will see the creation of affordable housing for the residents of Colonsay.

Mowi, along with Argyll and Bute Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Communities Housing Trust, has worked with the Colonsay Community Development Company to find a solution to the housing shortage. With £390,00 from the Scottish Land Fund and a Crowdfunder appeal underway to raise £25,000 towards construction costs, nine homes will be built in phase one with a further 24 to follow.

For our part, we will provide housing for our staff on Colonsay as well as funding towards the infrastructure for this development.

Dougie Hunter, Technical Director, explains:

“We are part of that island community and we are committed to supporting this major new community housing development. This will of course be in the form of financial support to help with building and infrastructure costs but also includes giving our time and experience through the many different skillsets that our colleagues in the Mowi family have. It is almost twenty years since the last community housing was built on Colonsay so we really are looking forward to being part of this exciting development.”

With construction due to start in the summer, it is hoped that this will be a turning point for the island community.