Posted 19 September 2016 by
Keith OsborneScottish Housing Day (#scottishhousingday) is looking at the diverse needs of the country’s 5.3m population, with emphasis on the wide range of tenures that new homes can cover, from the traditional open market of private buyers through help for first-time purchasers to a range of schemes for Shared Ownership and rent.
Here are a few more stories from the Scottish new homes industry, looking at a range of locations and property types available now and planned for the near future.
Award-winning Scottish designer transforms CALA’s show homes in South Queensferry
CALA Homes, the WhatHouse? Housebuilder of the Year in 2013, has used an equally well-respected interior designer to refresh four show homes at its Dalmeny Park development in South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Joanne McDonald from Luma Interiors has brought her own award-winning skills to the four show properties and is one of the housebuilder’s most frequently used experts at its schemes across the east of Scotland, personally seeking up to 1,000 individual items for each home.
McDonald says: “The setting of the development is what helps inspire the interior of each house and give it some personal character. It’s important to ensure that a little bit of the local area is brought inside as ultimately that is the overall appeal to house hunters. For the Dalmeny Park development I considered the spectacular bridges and nearby idyllic beaches to create the industrial, yet peaceful, design in each show home and apartment.”
The show apartment is actually available for purchasers to buy, with a price tag of £260,000 for the two-bedroom property including lighting, window dressing and accessories.
Affordable new homes approvals on the rise across Scotland
New statistics from the Scottish government show that the number of affordable homes approved in the year to the end of June 2016 increased by 26% on the previous year, to 8,067.
Scotland’s housing minister Kevin Stewart is confident that the figures demonstrate a strong start to the stated total of 50,000 new affordable homes over five years: “We have an excellent track record on housing. The number of affordable home completions from April 2007 to end March 2016 was 60,704 – on average 24% more per year than the 38,015 delivered between April 2000 and March 2007.
“In the previous session of parliament, we exceeded our target of delivering 30,000 affordable homes, and our bold and ambitious More Homes Scotland approach will build on that achievement. We have committed to investing over £3bn to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years. This is accompanied by increased housing subsidy levels and a new Rural Housing Fund to boost the supply of affordable rural housing.”
In addition, the number of overall starts to new homes across the public and private sector increased by 4% over the same period, seeing construction start on 16,910 properties in total, the highest annual figure since 2008/09.
McCarthy & Stone supports Macmillan’s charity fundraising events from 21 September
Specialist developer McCarthy & Stone, the UK’s largest provider of purpose-built private retirement property, is once again inviting guests to attending events at its Scottish development to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is taking place at eight of its developments in Scotland from 21 September to 5 October. Rosemary Giovino, sales and marketing director for McCarthy and Stone in Scotland, says: “At all of our McCarthy and Stone developments we host coffee mornings on a weekly basis, so it only made sense to get involved with Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, open our doors to the public and raise as many funds for the charity as possible!”
Events are happening at:
- Conachar Bank, Perth – Wednesday 21 September from 11.00am
- Ashwood Court, Paisley – Tuesday 27 September, 2016 from 10.30am
- Greenwood Grove, Newton Mearns – Tuesday 27 September from 11.00am
- Scholars Gate, St Andrews – Wednesday 28 September from 11.00am
- Templars Court, Linlithgow – Thursday 29 September from 11.00am
- The Hailes, Haddington – Saturday 1 October from 11.00am
- Campsie Grove, Bishopbriggs – Wednesday 5 October from 11.00am
- The Sycamores, Kinross – Wednesday 5 October from 11.00am
Consultation opens on 2,500 proposed new homes for Stirling
Springfield Properties has opened consultation on its proposal for a new village of 2,500 homes at Durieshill near Stirling, after lodging a pre-application notice with Stirling Council.
The public consultation will take place across October and November, with more details being released about the scheme. Already, a school, shops and landscaped public spaces are part of the plans, while 25% of the homes (625) have been allocated as affordable.
The plans show a mix of property types to attract a wide spectrum of buyers, with apartments alongside detached and semi-detached homes, with designs inspired by established local architecture so that the new properties will fit well into the landscape. If the proposals are approved the first homes could be completed by 2019.
Springfield Properties chairman Sandy Adam, said: “The economic benefits of a new village like Durieshill are significant and this is a fantastic opportunity to build a sustainable community for the Stirling area. The capital value of the development will generate major employment opportunities as well as providing high-quality homes for a range of budgets.
“We are experienced in delivering new villages like the one proposed for Durieshill and during the consultation period we will be listening carefully to local residents and businesses to help us develop our final plans.”