Building Briefs – February 20th

• Sold out homes shows buyers love Love Street development

Property developer Sanctuary Homes was inundated with people keen to buy 29 affordable houses in Paisley’s Love Street, Saints Street, North Bank, Cairter’s Corner and Abercromby Avenue.

The semi-detached and terraced homes were built by Sanctuary in partnership with the Scottish Government and Renfrewshire Council.

All 29 homes were sold through the Scottish Government’s New Supply Shared Equity (NSSE) scheme.

The scheme enables first-time buyers to own an eligible property by taking a stake from 60 to 80 per cent. The remaining cost is covered by an interest-free government loan, repaid when the property is sold.

The last of the £19 million Love Street project’s 132 homes are due to be handed over by September. Of the 132 houses being built at the site, 103 will be for social rent.

Lyndsey Wilson, Sanctuary Homes’ area sales manager for Scotland, said: “Our Love Street development is so popular it became a bit of an open goal for our sales team.

“The high quality of the houses combined with the history of the site saw plots reserved as soon as they became available.

“Witnessing the transformation of Love Street from a lifeless site into a new community is fantastic.

“The number of families moving here is fitting given how family-orientated St Mirren FC is.”

A short film on the project can be viewed on YouTube at youtu.be/AkhysEiavcU

• Lovell Scotland celebrates Gold Investors in People accreditation as new offices officially opened

Partnership housing developer Lovell has been celebrating having secured Gold Investors in People accreditation for a further three years as its new Scottish headquarters were officially opened by local constituency MSP Richard Lyle.

Located at Strathclyde Business Park, Lovell’s Scotland team moved into the new offices in late 2018 and invited the Uddingston and Bellshill constituency MSP to officially open the premises at a special ceremony.

The official opening of the new offices follows the recent appointment of Sarah Fenton as new regional commercial director for Lovell in Scotland.

It also follows an announcement at the beginning of January that David Ward would take on a newly-created position of managing director for the North to drive forward planned growth across Lovell’s Scotland, eastern and north west regions.

Richard Lyle MSP said: “It’s a great pleasure to have been invited to officially open these new offices and I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Lovell Scotland as they move into Strathclyde Business Park. I wish them every success for the future as they settle into their new home. It’s also great to see them winning Gold accreditation once again from the Investors in People scheme. It’s testament to the great efforts they’ve clearly made to manage and support the Scottish team.”

Lovell Scotland interim managing director, Kevin McColgan, added: “My thanks go to Richard Lyle for agreeing to come along and cut the ribbon at this official opening ceremony. We are looking forward to seizing new opportunities to further develop the business in the months ahead. That can only happen with the dedication and hard work of our Scotland team which is why I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to secure Gold accreditation from Investors in People for another three years.”

• House builder urges guests to “dig deep” for sick kids retreat

Scotland’s number one housebuilder spurred an audience of 576 to “dig deep” and give £101,000 to allow children and young people living with cancer to enjoy a family retreat in a purpose built sanctuary at Loch Venachar near Callander.

Barratt Homes West Scotland organised the charity dinner at Glasgow’s Radisson Blu Hotel for It’s Good 2 Give, The Ripple Retreat – an organisation that has been working hard for the last nine years to establish its stunning short-break facility.

Lynne McNicoll, Co-Founder, It’s Good to Give, The Ripple Retreat said: “Once again we are absolutely stunned with the generosity of this donation. It’s an incredible sum of money to receive from Barratt Homes and it will go towards a couple of ongoing projects as well as the general upkeep of the facility itself. We would like to thank Barratt for their ongoing support and are thrilled to continue working with them.”

David Scott, managing director, Barratt Homes West Scotland said: “When we heard about the amazing work Lynne and Ian McNicoll at The Ripple Retreat were doing we had to get involved.

“The facility they have created is incredible and I hope that our support will in turn raise their profile further to encourage other businesses like ours to give to this amazing cause.

“I am humbled to think that our charity dinner will help bring respite to families across the country during an incredibly difficult time in their lives.”

The housebuilder holds an annual charity event like this one for a range of good causes.

The business is keen to add value to the communities in which it operates. Whether that is through charitable contributions, access to work placements or health and safety tours in schools neighbouring Barratt Homes’ developments, team Barratt Homes West Scotland remains committed to having a high quality social, environmental and economic impact on Scottish communities.

To find out more about the incredible work being done at The Ripple Retreat visit www.itsgood2give.co.uk/the-ripple-retreat.

• Tenants call for ‘unworkable’ Rent Pressure Zones to be replaced with nationwide rent controls

Scotland’s “unworkable” Rent Pressure Zones should be urgently replaced with a system of “proper rent controls”, according to a new report.

The Rent Controls Scotland Needs is set to be launched in Glasgow tomorrow by Living Rent, Scotland’s tenants’ union, in conjunction with “think-and-do tank” Common Weal, amid reports of average rents escalating across the country.

Under section 35 of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, which came into effect at the end of 2017, local authorities can apply to Scottish Ministers to ask that all or part of their authority’s area be designated as an Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ).

However, there are so far no RPZs anywhere in Scotland, which critics have chalked up to the staggering amount of evidence that local authorities need to provide in the application process.

The report argues that evidence from local authorities and housing experts indicates that “no local authority will ever successfully implement a rent pressure zone and that, even if they were able to, that it would go nowhere near far enough in addressing the issues tenants face”.

It goes on to argue in favour of a points-based rent controls system, inspired by other European countries, which would see rent increases pegged to a new Scottish Rental Affordability Index, and a new Scottish Living Rent Commission created to monitor and regulate the housing sector.

The Scottish Rental Affordability Index would aim to keep rents below an “affordable rent”, which Living Rent says should be judged at 25% of a tenant’s income.

• Robertson Homes appoints Regional Director for NE England

Richard Bass has been appointed as regional director in the North East of England for Robertson Homes.

Based in Gateshead, he will oversee current and planned developments of new homes across the region, and spearhead local development of the brand.

Richard has worked in and around construction for over 25 years, the last 10 spent as regional MD for Keepmoat in the North East of England. Originally from Whitley Bay, his local knowledge has already proved invaluable.

Robertson Homes currently has two live developments in the NE; Backworth Park in North Tyneside and Cragside Gardens in Rothbury, Northumberland. A further development of luxury homes in Wynyard, Co Durham is coming soon.