On our recent site visit to Tarves in Aberdeenshire, we spoke exclusively to Scotia Homes’ Charlotte Lynch about the company and its range of new homes in the north of Scotland.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role in Scotia Homes.
My name is Charlotte Lynch, I've been with Scotia Homes since 2021 and I am the marketing and social media lead. I work alongside my colleague Harriet who’s the marketing and corporate relations lead, to bring the Scotia brand to life and showcase our product quality and vision to our customers.
Scotia Homes started off as a small family business and has been building homes in the North East of Scotland for over 30 years, and we’re now starting to venture outside that region. With developments in Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, the Highlands and the Cairngorms National Park and Angus, we don’t just build homes, we create great places to live. We also have exciting, modern developments coming to Angus and Aberdeenshire in the coming years.
What kind of properties does Scotia Homes build?
We listen to customers to see what they really want, from number of beds to layout and more. We don’t just assume we know what you want from your new home, we ask you. Then we build the home you’ll love, in the place you want. We build bright, spacious, modern new build homes with energy efficiency at the core. We use intelligent street design to minimise the distance to local amenities making them ideally no more than a short walk away, so you can enjoy your new community as much as you enjoy your new home.
The homes we build are as individual as the people who live in them. They reflect the character of the area and share its architectural features, but are built with sustainability and energy efficiency firmly in mind, using materials that stand the test of time.
We include properties for a wide range of people, uses and budgets with opportunities available to personalise your new home. The result is well-balanced communities, perfect for all kinds of people at every stage of life.
Willowburn in Tarves, Aberdeenshire
Can you give us an outline of this development?
We're at Willowburn in Tarves, Aberdeenshire. It's a contemporary development of three- and four-bedroom homes from £299,950. Our marketing suite is open Thursday to Monday, 10.30am to 5.30pm – pop in and have a cup of tea with our sales advisor, Kim Fordyce. We can talk you through the sales process and look at our options and upgrades to help you find the right house for you.
The show home opened last October. Since then, Kim has been busy with enquiries with a number of properties already moved in.
Willowburn combines the convenience and style of a new development with the tradition and community of a well-kept Scottish village.
Is there a particular buyer profile here?
We have such a range of house types available that there really is something for everyone. From first-time buyers, young families, downsizers to retiring couples, our buying profile at Willowburn is so diverse creating stronger communities.
What attracts people to this area?
I think it's the local community, and Aberdeenshire is so beautiful with its landscapes and scenery. These bring people to Tarves, and people that once lived in Tarves quite often come back here. We've got some people moving here from further afield but the majority are local buyers.
The show home here is fitted with the impressive standard specification, but what options and upgrades can buyers consider?
Symphony kitchens with SMEG appliances, Porcelanosa tiling, photovoltaic solar panels and exterior timber cladding are all standard at the homes in Tarves. With bespoke kitchens and Symphony upgrades available depending on the plot’s build stage, customers can upgrade on a number of items should they wish (although our ‘standard’ range is also pretty impressive). From upgraded furniture, handle options, sinks and taps, appliances, wall tiling and floor tiling, there are a number of choices for our customers to make their house really feel like home. We try and be as flexible as we can for our customers.
What deals and assistance schemes can buyers ask about?
Our most popular assistance scheme is Assisted Sale. This is where the customer lets them help sell their existing home. We give them expert advice and pay for all the estate agency, selling and advertising costs, potentially saving them thousands of pounds. With this we agree a minimum reserve price for their house and if we don’t sell there is no obligation to buy the new home. You can see why it’s so popular!
We also offer Part Exchange on selected plots. If your dream plot is a year or 18 months away from completion, we do offer early bird reservations and for first-time buyers we can often offer moving-in packages, such as furniture packs. We listen to our customers and find out how to make the moving process that bit easier.
Show home interior at Willowburn
Some homes here are ready to move into now but are there further releases to come?
We’re still in the early stages of the development so yes we have a number of units left to release. You can expect a range of three- and four-bedroom homes, semi-detached and detached, from approximately 933 sq ft to 1,765 sq ft – so really something for everyone. If there is a plot a customer is looking at in particular that is due to be released in the future, our sales advisor can work her magic and secure an early bird reservation to ensure the right customers are in the right homes.
What’s Scotia Homes involvement with sustainability?
It's always been part of the company vision and we've had a lot of success recently with the NextGeneration Project awards. Our development in Brechin was the first development in the UK to receive the Gold award. NextGeneration is the sustainability benchmarking system for UK homebuilders by setting out what good practice looks like and drives change in the industry.
Since then we've gone on to win the Silver Award at Chapelpark, Oldmeldrum, Hazelwood in Blairgowrie and our upcoming Aberfell development in Arbroath.
We've won the People Place Planet Award at the Homes of Scotland Awards this year. It was a big one for us, a really great moment.
Our Chapelpark site manager, Fraser Stephen, won NHBC's Seal of Excellence Award and Scottish Regional Award in the Medium Builder Category at the annual NHBC Pride in the Job awards this year also – another great success for Fraser and Scotia as he began as an apprentice joiner and is now a multi-award-winning site manager.
What you can expect from Scotia Homes in 2024
2024 brings an abundance of opportunities for Scotia Homes and its customers. From continued high quality of build across all our developments, to new locations, new and improved house types and more. We continue to work with our suppliers to ensure customer satisfaction and are looking to launch more modern show homes to give just a taste of what living in a Scotia home could be like.
Find out more about current developments from Scotia Homes.
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