Gatehouse of Fleet: A Picturesque Yet Challenging Place for Young Residents
On a sunny day, Gatehouse of Fleet appears to be an idyllic place to live. The main street is lively, and sitting with a coffee by the banks of the River Fleet offers a peaceful setting to leave worries behind.
However, for young people seeking to establish their own homes, the town presents significant challenges.
There is hope that an old garage site at one end of the town could contribute to addressing this issue in this scenic part of Galloway.
Community Initiative Takes Ownership of Woodside Land
Julia Weston, a member of the Gatehouse Development Initiative (GDI), explained that the community recently acquired ownership of the Woodside land and obtained planning permission for a £3.4 million project.
The plan involves creating seven two-bedroom rental homes on land that has been vacant for some time.
"It's been vacant and derelict for over 20 years,"Julia said.
"I've been looking at it for ages, thinking, why does nobody do anything with this site? It's in the middle of the conservation area, it's opposite the War Memorial, opposite the Mill Pond, quite a key location - it's the first thing you see when you come into the town."
Previously, proposals included building flats or luxury homes, but GDI, in collaboration with South of Scotland Community Housing, identified a strong demand for affordable rental housing.
"Everything that was coming up for sale at that point was being sold as a second home,"Julia explained.
"We found that what people wanted was smaller homes. They wanted one and two bedrooms because a lot of the homes in Gatehouse have got sort of three plus bedrooms and they're under-occupied."
Addressing the Ageing Population and Housing Needs
The old garage site is seen as a potential solution to the town's demographic challenges.
"The big problem that Gatehouse has is that it's an ageing population,"Julia said.
"Young people just can't afford to live here. They can't afford to live here, they can't afford to stay here, so they end up moving away."
She noted that 38% of the town's population is aged 65 and over, nearly double the national average, while only 5% are aged between 16 and 24, about half the national figure.
"It's vitally important for Gatehouse to be able to retain younger people,"Julia emphasized.
"They do want to stay here and come back here and so affordability and being able to live here is really important. So the plan is that we weight the allocations in favour of younger people and also key workers."
Local Perspective: The Need for Affordable Rental Housing
Asia Fairnie, 25, who grew up in Gatehouse but moved away to study in Dundee and Stirling, returned about two years ago. She opened the Angel Coffee House and currently lives in her parents' house with her partner.
Finding rental accommodation has been difficult.
"It's very rare for anything, for renting anyway, to come available,"she said.
"I think the whole two years that I have been back in Gatehouse, I've only ever really seen one place come up for rent maybe - but it was nabbed pretty quickly. A lot of things that do come available are houses for sale for like £200,000 to £300,000 - so quite unrealistic if you've not really got much savings."
She believes the new homes planned at Woodside could serve as ideal rental options while saving to buy a home.
"We are quite lucky to be able to live with my parents but we definitely need our own space,"Asia said.
"A lot of people move out of Gatehouse because of the lack of places to rent."
"It would be a bit of like a breath of fresh air, you know, having a bit of a younger community. There would be a lot more things going on I think, as well, if we did have a bit more of a younger group in town."
