A NEW £5.5 million housing development in Greenock is now complete as ambitious plans to revolutionise social housing get under way in Inverclyde.

Oak Tree Housing now has 36 new builds on the site of the former Ravenscraig Primary School in Auchmead Road.

New mum Sarah O'Donnell was one of the first tenants to move in with her six month old son.

It is the first phase of a four stage £33m programme by the housing association to deliver 200 affordable homes.

Oak Tree chairman Colin Campbell, who is a former head of housing at Inverclyde Council, said: "This is an important move in the right direction.

"Investment in social housing is so important.

"These houses are built for the 21st century.

"They are energy efficient and designed to cut costs for the people who live in them."

The development features a mix of two, three and four-bedroom semi-detached houses and eight two-bedroom cottage flats.

Delighted care support worker Sarah, who now lives in a two bedroom house in Ravenscraig Gardens with her son Darragh, said: "This is my first house.

"I was living in Branchton with my mum but it was overcrowded.

"Now we have our own home with a back garden.

"It is absolutely brilliant, I love it here."

Ravenscraig Gardens is one of four new build projects which will be constructed for Oak Tree over the next three years with £18m funding from the Scottish Government.

The expansion will bring Oak Tree's total stock to nearly 2,000 properties when it is finished.

Nick Jardine, chief executive of Oak Tree Housing Association, said: "We are excited to finalise at Auchmead Road with CCG (Scotland) Ltd, who have delivered 36 quality homes to us, on schedule, in what is the first of our four planned new build developments in Greenock.

"It will bring new, energy efficient homes to help us enhance the lives of our tenants, who will begin to move into the development early in the New Year."

"In the case of Auchmead Road, the homes are incredibly energy efficient with added value brought by the installation of solar panels to help create long-term energy savings for tenants and a reduced carbon footprint."

David Wylie, managing director of CCG, added: “With Auchmead Road, we were delighted to return to Greenock to deliver this new housing development partnering with Oak Tree HA.

"The site’s composition was not without its challenges during the construction programme but our site team have done incredibly well – the development looks fantastic.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Oak Tree HA in 2020.”