Housing minister Kevin Stewart launched the multi-million pound investment last year to deliver mid-market rent homes across the country.

The first development, a £7.3 million site in Paisley, was acquired by PfP Capital in partnership with UK housebuilder Keepmoat Homes. This development will deliver 66 new homes, with the first 16 homes completed in March. Twelve more homes are scheduled for completion in April with the remaining homes developed throughout 2019-2020.

The second site is based in Oxgangs, Edinburgh and Hopefield Partnership and CCG Construction have been appointed to deliver this development. Planning consent has been secured for 85 new homes at this site.

PfP Capital’s MMR fund has been looking for sites across Scotland to deliver 1,000 affordable homes. The Scottish Government has committed £47.5m to the fund as part of its continued commitment to deliver 50,000 affordable homes across the breadth of the country by 2021.

The fund will also receive an initial £10m capital from Places for People’s Scottish subsidiary Castle Rock Edinvar.

William Kyle, fund director at PfP Capital, said: “Working in partnership with Keepmoat Homes, Hopefield Partnership, and the Scottish Government, we are excited to announce these two acquisitions. These projects reaffirm our commitment to delivering affordable homes in Scotland for the community as well as a renewed promise to continue to deploy investor capital where investment is most needed.”

Rettie & Co. acted as property advisors to PfP Capital’s Mid-Market Rent Fund and supported the deal process, including providing site analysis.

Matthew Benson, director of development services at Rettie & Co., said: “The institutional appetite to invest in well managed, sensibly priced residential accommodation continues to grow. The Scottish Government is to be congratulated on bringing this highly innovative and very cost-effective initiative to fruition and we feel confident that it will pave the way for many more similar transactions, considerably increasing Scotland’s supply of affordably priced homes.”