THE £18 million redevelopment of Kincardine and replacement of the unpopular high-rise flats has been completed.

The final phase of the major affordable housing project was finished by Kingdom Housing Association with the delivery of 49 properties.

In total, the Devilla development has taken eight years, seen three blocks of flats demolished and replaced by 133 modern and efficient homes.

Bill Banks, Kingdom’s chief executive, said: “The homes have all been built to high-quality standards and have been designed to meet the building regulations silver sustainability standard.

“They have highly efficient boilers, waste water and gas flue heat recovery, high levels of insulation and triple-glazed windows.

“The new homes will be very efficient to run for residents and meet Secured by Design standards.

“Completion of the Devilla development marks a major step forward for the standard of housing available in Kincardine and we are sure it will be a benefit to the community for years to come.”

Built in the 1960s to house mine and power station workers from nearby Longannet, the three blocks of 16 storeys were in later years hit by anti-social behaviour and low occupancy.

By 2007, the year the council decided to knock them down, one-third of the flats were empty.

The local councillor at the time, Willie Ferguson, said: “People want to have a front and back door and a garden. Its no good trying to bring up kids 15 floors up.”

Kincardine’s skyline changed forever when the tower blocks came down amid cheers and tears from tenants, with Kincairne Court and Sandeman Court flattened in June 2010.

Some residents were decanted to Ramsay Court until the first phase of new homes became available in 2012 and the last high-rise was then demolished in March 2013.

The total project cost around £18m, with the Scottish Government and Fife Council providing approximately £10m in subsidy to support the redevelopment with the balance of the funding raised by Kingdom.

It also benefited from investment through Allia’s charitable bond programme.

Built in three phases – of 65, 19 and 49 properties – there are now 133 new homes providing housing for a range of affordable housing tenures, including social rent, mid-market rent (MMR) and private sale.

Work on the final phase began in April 2016 and was finished in December 2017.

Mr Banks said: “This has been a very successful regeneration project progressed through collaborative working with the community and various partners.

“Close collaboration with Fife Council enabled the project to proceed and Kingdom Initiatives were able to access the private funding for the project through the on-lending of funds, from Kingdom Housing Association, that were raised through the Allia bond, which provided £2.75m, of the private funding with £1.85m being the receipts from sales recycled back in to future Kingdom Initiatives provision.”