HIFAR – the Housing Initiative for Arran Residents, is now a registered company, limited by guarantee. The next stage is in train – to become a charitable trust.
We are committed to solving a very serious problem of island life.
That problem is the provision of homes for ordinary working folk – those who want to live and work on the Isle of Arran, but in doing so (or wanting to do so) are handicapped by several critical issues.
The market price of extant housing, when compared to the average mortgage capability of island workersHThe paucity of available building land (and the resulting price of that land)HThe regulations restricting landowners’ ability to provide building landHThe regulations restricting the type of building allowedHThe priority given to “Buy/build to let” over “Buy/build to live”A situation must be achieved whereby ordinary working people can afford to buy/build/rent modern, efficient, safe homes for themselves and their families, in a location that suits them.Is this unattainable in the 21st century?
This website is intended as a focus for everyone interested in contributing towards rectifying this critical issue, with a strong emphasis on “contributing”.The sections “The People” and “The Problem” will, we are sure, rapidly become well populated – everyone on Arran has stories to relate on the subject – and are the reasons driving the development of this site.
Here are where “the real stories” will be told.The Questionnaire is intended to provide simple, un-opinionated demographic statistics. All information gathered here will be used anonymously – we urge everyone with housing issues to submit this form, whether or not your story has been told elsewhere. The greater the response, the more relevant the data.
As important as the depiction of the perceived problems is, perhaps even more crucial is the content of the section “The Possibilities”.
What should be done? Who should do it? Who should decide how it is done?
Here is the opportunity for those most affected to partake in an effort to change the rules.This is the crux of this Initiative. The future prosperity and indeed community of Arran is in danger, in the short term as much as in the long term.This website is for you, the residents of Arran (present and prospective).
Under no circumstances will it be allowed to become derogatory – destructive criticism, personal attacks and abusive or foul language will find no audience here.. Arran’s official representatives and other community groups perform their duties admirably given the strictures imposed upon them and their contribution to this debate is both welcome and necessary. We are not here to find fault with them or their efforts, but to add weight to their arguments on our behalf. To this end all correspondence intended for the Discussion Forum will be moderated for unsuitable content.
Tell your story, supply the facts and propose the solutions.Please make your contribution. We all know this matters.As someone once said: “It’s a beautiful place, but you can’t eat the scenery”.