Cala Homes has been granted planning permission for a second phase of homes at its Oldfold Village development in the Aberdeen suburb of Milltimber as the firm sets its sights on more land in the region after a North Sea upturn kickstarts the market.

Following the success of phase one, the new instalment will see a natural extension of the landmark site and will include 166 properties comprising of two, three, four and five-bedroom homes and one and two-bedroom apartments.

The detailed planning submission was lodged ahead of schedule after high demand for the 60 properties in the first phase – Milltimber Grange at Oldfold Village – which now has limited homes remaining.

Fraser Carr, sales and marketing director at Cala Homes (North), said: “We are delighted to move a step closer to our goal of creating a vibrant neighbourhood at Milltimber, which will comprise 550 homes in total.

“Our state-of-the-art sales suite has helped to illustrate our vision for the development and the response from homebuyers looking for a luxury home in this picturesque suburb has been very positive.

“We are committed not just to building new homes but to creating a thriving community in which families can flourish. Plans include a new primary school as well as commercial elements further down the line.”

Phase one began in November 2015, with the introduction of the first 60 properties, ranging from three-bedroom terraced house types to large, detached five-bedroom family homes including garages with accommodation above.

Cala has sold out three developments in Aberdeen since the turn of the year and launched sales at two further sites.

Cala Homes managing director in the north, Mike Naysmith, said he believes the industry, which was hit hard in the region by the downturn in the North Sea offshore industry, has picked up and Cala is now actively searching for more pieces of land to develop around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

He said: “We are seeing encouraging interest and sales from the Aberdeen market at present, and this is reflected in our confident land strategy which has seen significant progress in terms of land transactions and planning applications in the region in recent months.

“We are pushing ahead on some very significant projects for Aberdeen, including a landmark new community at Craibstone which will see the creation of 700 homes plus community amenities, the first phase of which is awaiting planning approval.

“Sales have been so strong at our Oldfold Village development in Milltimber, with 45 sales since February 2016, that we lodged a planning application for a second phase at this site earlier than anticipated. In addition, our two new developments in Bridge of Don drew 14 sales off plan before the launch, which is especially encouraging in a recovering market.”