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Skye nurses' cottage to be redeveloped into affordable housing

News imageStaffin Community Trust The former nurses' cottage is in the background. It is a small single storey white washed building with steps leading up to the front door. A group of people involved in the project are standing in the foreground next to a fence. Staffin Community Trust
The former nurses' cottage was built in 1933, 15 years before the NHS was set up.

A community organisation in Skye has bought a former nurses' cottage so it can be used once again to house NHS staff.

The Staffin Community Trust (SCT) has bought the cottage from NHS Highland and intends to redevelop the site as part of wider efforts to secure a supply of affordable housing in the area.

This latest project comes after the trust took forward plans for a new health centre, completed in 2022, as part of its wider Taighean a' Chaiseil development.

Six new family homes were constructed as part of that scheme but the trust said that demand had far exceeded supply and further housing was vital.

The single-storey nurses' cottage was constructed in 1933, 15 years before the NHS was established, following fundraising efforts by the Staffin Nursing Association.

It provided accommodation for district nurses who at that time went out to visit people in their own homes, mostly travelling on foot or by bicycle.

It was no longer fit for purpose and latterly the building was used by visiting GPs from Portree as a place to treat patients.

Funding support for the redevelopment of the site has come from the Highland Council, Scottish Land Fund and the Royal Bank of Scotland's charity Social and Community Capital.

"Housing is vital for our community"

SCT chairman Calum MacDonald said they were "sincerely thankful" to NHS Highland for supporting the project.

He said: "Housing is vital for our community right now, and for our future, and we're now looking forward to developing the site in close consultation with the community."

Richard MacDonald, director of estates, facilities and capital planning at NHS Highland, described the project as an "innovative step towards providing additional housing in the area."

He added: "One of the units will be made available to NHS Highland employees, supporting our commitment to affordable housing and helping us recruit and retain staff locally."