VILLAGERS in Maidens have kept their fight going to get locals into affordable housing - and Tory Westminster candidate Bill Grant has added his voice to their cry.
Mr Grant has called on the Scottish Government to ease the rules that have to be followed by social landlords and councils so that residents can be given more priority when it comes to deciding housing applications.
He said: "The situation in Ma
idens highlighted by the Gazette last week shows why we need action from the Government to allow more priority to be given to local connections when deciding housing applications.
"The problem is that the housing allocation policies of social landlords, including councils, are restricted by the rules set out by government housing legislation and, according to that legislation, one of the factors that social landlords cannot take into account in allocating housing is how long an applicant has lived in an area."
What this means that it is not possible to give priority to local people when it comes to allocating local housing.
And Mr Grant said: "This makes it harder to keep families and communities together, which is obviously what we should be looking to do.
"A recent report into rural housing by the Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs Committee asked the Scottish Government to consider whether greater freedom to take into account local connections could be offered to social landlords in areas like Carrick where pressured area status has been granted.
"That would be a very welcome step which would allow social landlords to give much more priority to local people and to more accurately reflect the housing needs of smaller communities in rural areas.
"It's certainly a move that I will support on behalf of local people."
But for the villagers in Maidens this call will be seen as too little, too late . The current allocation process sees generations and community ripped apart.
On Saturday morning, a group concerned with the allocation of affordable housing met outside the new build in the village and told reporter Alan Cameron about the allocation concerns.
Among themwas one man, born and raised in Maidens but now living in Dunure because he can't get a home in the village.
Last week Mrs Sandra Thomson discussed her cardiac problem and how she does not fully use her three-bedroomed home and wanted to move into one of the smaller houses being built in the village.
