Project to develop former Langholm police station into affordable flats secures final piece of £600,000 funding package

The final slice of a near £600,000 funding package needed to develop Langholm’s former police station into four affordable flats has come through.

South of Scotland Enterprise has stepped in with a £92,000 grant so that work can get underway on the listed building, empty since 2010, in Buccleuch Square.

The property served as Langholm’s police station for more than a century before closing and was declared surplus to requirements by the council.

A community trust, The Eskdale Foundation, declared an interest in the building worth an estimated £100,000.

And the council agreed to a community asset transfer for a nominal £1.

Since then, the foundation, which has charitable status, has been working with Dumfries and Galloway’s Small Community Housing Trust to help obtain grant aid for its project costing £596,132.

It secured £284,112 from the Scottish Government’s Rural and Islands Housing Fund, £90,000 from the council’s Town Centre Living Fund, £12,500 from the Architectural Heritage Fund, as well as cash-aid from Muirhall Energy.

The foundation chipped in money and that has now been topped off with the SOSE funding.

Ronnie Tait, a director of the Eskdale Foundation, said: “Without their help it would have been much more difficult for us to move forward with our plans.

“We are extremely grateful to SOSE for relieving the pressure, and for all the help and advice we have received from our community advisor who has supported us on this journey.”

The new flats project would see any profits reinvested in the community as the foundation – which owns a charity shop and four houses – works to ensure there are accessible facilities and amenities available to all.

SOSE chairman Professor Russel Griggs said: “The Eskdale Foundation put the needs of their community at the heart of what they do and we are delighted to be able to support this project.

“Local communities are the lifeblood of our towns, villages and our economy. As the economic and community development agency for the region, we are here to listen first-hand to what businesses, communities and individuals need, and then respond.

“The provision of affordable housing and town centre regeneration will be an important building block in Covid-19 recovery, as Langholm seeks to attract employers and rebrand as a tourist town.”