The town of Selkirk, a historic royal burgh in the Scottish Borders, sits prominently within the Ettrick valley. As the town has grown, gradual residential expansion has begun to extend across the Ettrick Water, bringing with it an increasing demand for affordable housing. Scottish Borders Housing Association identified an urgent need to provide additional homes for local residents. However, opportunities for development within Selkirk are limited, with few suitable sites available to support new housing.
One such opportunity emerged on a constrained site on the west side of the river, adjacent to existing residential development. While the location offered potential to sensitively extend the town’s housing provision, it also presented a significant challenge: much of the site sits within the flood risk zone of the Ettrick Water. Delivering new homes therefore required a carefully considered design approach that could balance housing need with environmental and regulatory constraints.
Working closely with Scottish Borders Housing Association, we developed a design that unlocks this challenging site to deliver 27 new affordable homes (23 houses and four cottage flats), arranged within a carefully defined boundary at the highest part of the site to minimise flood exposure. To further mitigate risk and enable safe development, the ground level across the site will be raised by approximately one metre using engineered fill, ensuring compliance with the flood risk assessment while creating a resilient development platform. Realising the project has required detailed collaboration with Planning and Building Standards authorities to navigate the site’s constraints and ensure the proposal meets all regulatory requirements.
The result is a small but significant extension to Selkirk’s residential neighbourhood, providing high-quality, affordable family homes for social rent. The development responds directly to local housing demand while making productive use of a previously constrained site. For residents, the development will provide well-designed and energy efficient homes within a connected and established community, helping support the town’s continued and sustainable growth.
