Community to turn abandoned buildings on stunning peninsula into permanent homes with legal protections
The buildings will hold special housing burdens that ensure they are kept as permanent homes and cannot be used as holiday lets or second homes.
On a west coast peninsula in Argyll, a community group has plans to secure abandoned properties long associated with depopulation as permanent rural homes.
The Barrahormid Trust, which bought some 2,000 acres of the Tayvallich Estate from rewilding company Highlands Rewilding, has received planning permission to develop eight unused buildings on the landholding.
The buildings will hold special housing burdens that ensure they are kept as permanent homes and cannot be used as holiday lets or second homes.
The Trust is now inviting prospective buyers of the properties, which range from two-bedroom cottages to larger farmhouses.
Tayvallich, a fishing village set on the shores of Loch Sween in the Knapdale area, is home to around 200 people. But like many small communities in remote parts of Scotland, the village struggles to keep people living there due to a lack of affordable housing and jobs.
The Trust said all the buildings require complete refurbishment, and buyers will be responsible for a share of the costs of upgrading access tracks and installing new water, sewage and electricity infrastructure at each settlement.
They will be offered at affordable prices, with priority given to buyers who can demonstrate a housing need, have local connections, are aligned with the Trust's environmental restoration objectives, or wish to develop a rural enterprise.
The Trust said the prices are based on a 25 per cent discount to comparable rural plots in Argyll and the Highlands, with further discounts to take account of the extra costs of repairing the tracks and installing modern services.
It is hoped that the new owners will club together as a local community to do a lot of the work themselves and to share the costs.
All eight homes will be subject to rural housing burdens—a legal condition attached to a property title under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.
It means the properties must be a primary residence and cannot be used as second homes or holiday lets. The burden will also apply to any future owners.
While such burdens remain relatively uncommon across Scotland, they are increasingly used by housing charities and community trusts in the Highlands and Islands, where pressure from second-home ownership is most acute.
The Isle of Mull, which has faced significant housing challenges, with housing prices well above what local families can afford, registered its first housing burden property in 2024 after being sold a home at a 30 per cent discount.
Martin Mellor of the Tayvallich Initiative, a community-led charity that manages land and property on the Tayvallich peninsula, said the planning permission news had been welcomed locally.
He added: "It is great news that the Barrahormid Trust have been successful in being awarded planning permission in principle as an initial step towards bringing buildings—some of which have been lived in within recent memory—back to residential use.
“It’s a great opportunity for those wishing to build themselves a livelihood in Mid Argyll.”
Ewan Paterson, Tayvallich and Barrahormid estates manager, also welcomed the development.
“My family have lived and worked on the estate for around 20 years and have often been contacted by people wanting the opportunity to move to this amazing place but with the lack of housing it would be extremely rare for a home to ever be available”, he said.
“Barrahormaid Trust's successful planning application will hopefully give people this opportunity to move to the area, which would be fantastic for the local community school and job opportunities.”
Founder of Highlands Rewilding Jeremy Leggett had to sell the Tayvallich Estate to help pay back a substantial bank loan to purchase it in the first place.
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