A Scottish housebuilder is transforming a former Edinburgh industrial site into 77 new homes, thanks to a £5.8million funding package from Bank of Scotland.
MNM Developments has started construction on The Tayworks, a new £12m development located in the city’s popular Leith area, on West Bowling Green Street.
The new development consists of 77 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, with 14 of these already reserved. Housing association, Places for People, has also acquired 14 of the 77 properties to market as affordable housing.
The housebuilder is headed up by sibling trio, Marc, Nathan, and Michaela Teague. In addition to The Tayworks, the family-run firm recently completed The Market development in Bonnyrigg and has sites underway at Willowbrae Road in Edinburgh, and Castlemains in Dirleton.
Over the past five years the firm has built over 100 properties across Edinburgh and the Lothians and has developed a reputation in providing a quality build at affordable prices.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic halting construction of The Tayworks for four months, the firm has managed to adapt its original build plan and is now only five weeks away from its original completion date. It will welcome its first homeowners from October 2021.
Bank of Scotland provided the business with a £5.8million development loan, supporting the firm in the build of the site. The development itself also created around 50 jobs for local sub-contractors.
Marc Teague, managing director at MNM Developments, said:“We were just breaking ground at The Tayworks site when Covid-19 hit. Despite the pause in operations, construction is now back underway, and the response so far has been brilliant.
“Leith is an increasingly popular area to live and work, and there’s been a great deal of redevelopment in this area in the last decade. It was also named one of the coolest places to live recently by Time Out so we’re confident these properties will sell quickly.
“As a family business, we’ve had a long-standing relationship with Bank of Scotland. The financial support and guidance the bank has provided has been invaluable in bringing The Tayworks to the market, and we look forward to welcoming the new homeowners next year.”
Douglas Spowart, relationship director at Bank of Scotland, said:“The past eight months have been extremely difficult, including for firms in the construction sector. So it’s heartening to see some firms turning these challenges into new opportunities.
“Property prices in Leith are up 5% on last year such is the demand to relocate to this vibrant area of Edinburgh. This is why it’s encouraging to see firms like MNM Developments capitalise on these positive market trends in order to grow, despite this year’s challenges.
“At Bank of Scotland, we’re working by the side of businesses across all sectors to help support them on the road to recovery.”
Enforcement of evictions from rented properties will be halted in Scotland for a six week period until mid-January.
The move will give extra protection to tenants during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It will reduce the burden on local authorities, who have a duty to rehouse people made homeless through evictions, and will also make it easier for people to self-isolate if they choose to form extended bubbles during the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions over Christmas.
Regulations will now be introduced that will prevent eviction orders being brought between 11 December and 22 January, with the exception of cases of serious anti-social behaviour.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We took early action to, in effect, halt eviction action until March 2021 due to the pandemic.
“We have supported tenants throughout this difficult period through a number of actions including increasing our Discretionary Housing Fund from £11 million to £19 million to provide additional housing support and shortly we will introduce our Tenant Hardship Loan Fund.
“We are now taking this additional, temporary step after carefully assessing the unique housing situation created by the pandemic.
“A temporary ban on carrying out evictions will give additional peace of mind to tenants over Christmas and into the new year. It will also prevent additional burdens being placed on health and housing services, during a time where they are already working hard due to the impact of the pandemic.
“It will allow tenants who are facing eviction, and may decide to take the opportunity to form extended bubbles over the festive period in line with relaxed guidance, time to effectively self-isolate afterwards should they come into contact with a positive person.
“Where there is evidence of serious anti-social or criminal behaviour, including in cases of domestic abuse, evictions can still proceed as normal.”
The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 is an emergency law to protect renters in Scotland during coronavirus.
The temporary law applies to all eviction notices issued on or after 7 April 2020. The original end date was 30 September 2020. The Scottish Parliament has extended the law until 31 March 2021 with some changes to notice periods.
Further information on tenants’ rights during the pandemic can be accessed here: https://www.mygov.scot/private-rental-rights/
Plans for a new mixed-used student and residential quarter in the Abbeyhill area of Edinburgh have been given the go ahead by the City of Edinburgh Council.
The Abbey Lane development brings together a 298-bed student complex with 66 new homes on the half-acre site, near London Road. Artisan Real Estate will deliver the homes, while Unite Students will develop the student accommodation.
Artisan bought the former industrial estate site in 2016 and Unite Students acquired the option to purchase the site in July this year. The estimated total cost for the development is in the region of £24 million.
Artisan will deliver 66 apartments including affordable homes and retail units built around a landscaped courtyard. The design includes a generous amount of green space, including a courtyard area, green roofs and roof gardens.
Welcoming the planning approval, Clive Wilding, Artisan’s Group Development Director, said: “This is part of a £90 million investment commitment by Artisan to raise the standards of sustainable living at several prime city centre brownfield sites across Edinburgh.
“Abbey Lane will be a great example of mixed-use living in a superb central location. As well as reducing urban sprawl by optimising the number of people living in well-designed, energy-efficient homes in low car-use locations well-served by public transport, we are also envisaging what people want from their living environment, post-Covid 19.
“Significant emphasis is placed on the quality of internal space and light to create enjoyable home-working environments, whilst accessible gardens and landscaping promote health and well-being by making nature and well-designed outdoor space integral to the day-to-day living experience.”
Nick Hayes, Group Property Director, added: “We welcome this decision to grant planning consent. We believe this development will enhance the on-going regeneration of an important part of Edinburgh city centre.
“Throughout the planning process, we have engaged with the local community and are looking forward to continuing that important work during the development phase of this project. Edinburgh has an undersupply of purpose-built student accommodation and we’re confident that this development will further improve the vibrant Abbeyhill area of the city.”
Helping to meet the increasing demand for luxurious, five-star quality homes, David Wilson Homes is expanding its offering in the capital with two new developments.
The housebuilder – part of Barratt Developments – is set to launch an entirely new development at Cammo Meadows this winter and it has just unveiled its final phase of development at the popular DWH @ Heritage Grange site.
Cammo Meadows is an attractive suburb to the north-west of Edinburgh and David Wilson Homes will be building a range of award-winning one, two and three-bedroom apartments and three and four-bedroom terraced and detached homes.
Located close to the Cammo Estate and Cramond Beach, the development offers an abundance of outdoor space, a network of cycle paths and walkways and consciously designed roads to ensure it’s the perfect location for families.
Each David Wilson property is being designed with modern life in mind and features flexible features, open-plan rooms and bright, airy and luxurious spaces.
Anne Ross, sales director at Barratt East Scotland, said: “Cammo Meadows is a beautiful location and the perfect place for us to expand into and over even more buyers the opportunity to invest in a David Wilson home. We already received lots of positive interest from prospective buyers and when we launch this winter, we look forward to seeing them on site.”
Located on the south side of the capital, Heritage Grange is a growing community just 15-minutes from the city centre. The final phase of homes has just launched at DWH @ Heritage Grange and included the four-bedroom ‘Dalmally’.
From £421,995, this property has all the space and features a growing family could need. With a generously-sized open-plan kitchen with dining and living area, to a large separate lounge and four double bedrooms upstairs, it’s perfect for buyers looking to invest in a home which will last a lifetime.
Selected properties at DWH @ Heritage Grange are eligible for the housebuilder’s ‘Movemaker’ scheme. Taking the hassle out of buying and selling, Movemaker means that David Wilson Homes can help arrange the sale of an existing property and even pay the estate agent fees.
For more details on the range of homes available at Cammo Meadows or DWH @ Heritage Grange, visit the David Wilson Homes website.
Canonmills Garden, Artisan Real Estate’s stylish new homes development in Edinburgh, is in the running for two prestigious accolades in this year’s Scottish Home Awards which takes place this week.
The boutique development, overlooking the Water of Leith to the north of the city centre, is a finalist in the hotly contested Apartment Development of the Year and the blue-riband Large Housing Development of the Year categories.
The Scottish Homes Awards were originally planned for March this year but have been rearranged as a virtual event due to the ongoing restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. And, despite similar restrictions also facing the homes-selling sector in recent times, Canonmills Garden has more than risen to the challenge with over two-thirds of homes now sold.
Charlotte Swanson, Artisan’s Regional Development Manager, believes the ‘virtual’ setting for the Scottish Homes Awards is a fitting platform for Canonmills Garden, which has seen the majority of its homes sold in a virtual environment.
“Artisan is an independent, niche developer which, from the start, gave us the freedom to react quickly to the challenges of lockdown,” she says.
“We created a strong sales proposition which reflects the challenges of our times by making our website-based visitor experience even more user friendly, introducing chat-boxes directly linked to our sales team as well as cutting-edge interactive graphics including virtual presentations and 3D apartment walk-throughs.
“We had a huge advantage in that, even before lockdown, we were pushing a 60 per-cent success rate despite all sales being off-plan and all marketing activity up to that point being conducted off site.”
Artisan’s boutique development, a spectacular mix of 180 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and colony-style properties, was first launched in 2018 and has firmly established itself as the new blueprint for post-lockdown living.
Generous and airy internal dimensions combine with large balconies and terraces overlooking private gardens and the Water of Leith – all underpinned with the latest in smart design and energy efficient technology.
Artisan was subsequently one of the first developers to open a show home and marketing suite once the initial lockdown restrictions were relaxed, reintroducing the human touch to the homes-sales process. And the results, so far, have been spectacular with sales at Canonmills Garden continuing apace with two first-phase blocks now sold out – including 70% already sold off-plan. The first residents will be moving in during the first quarter of 2020
With consumer confidence continuing to return to the market, prices and value are increasing with the average value of apartments growing by seven per-cent since the development’s marketing launch in 2018. The Canonmills Garden show home, designed by well-known Scottish Interior Designer Carol Yates, is now available to visit.
Holyrood’s Local Government and Communities Committee is seeking views on a new Bill which aims to increase private tenants’ protection by limiting rent increases and allowing them to seek a “fair” rent.
The Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill, a Member’s Bill from Pauline McNeill MSP, would prevent a landlord of a private residential tenancy from increasing rent in any year by more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%.
The Bill seeks to provide greater protections for private tenants by allowing them to apply at any time to a Rent Officer for a ‘fair open market rent’ to be set for a property. In deciding the application, the Officer would take into account matters like whether the property has poor energy efficiency or is in a bad condition.
The Bill would also make private landlords enter more detailed information about their property in the Scottish Landlord Register, including the monthly rent charged.
Local Government and Communities Committee Convener James Dornan MSP said: “The proportion of households in private rented housing now stands at just under 15%.
“As the private rented sector in Scotland has grown over the last couple of decades there have been various reforms to tighten the regulation of landlords and give tenants more rights. But the stated ambition behind this Bill is to change the balance of power further. It would cap rent increases to 1% plus CPI and to allow tenants more scope to challenge rents.
“We are keen to hear views about whether this further change is necessary and whether the provisions in the Bill are workable and will have the intended impact.
“We also want to find out what the financial impact of this Bill would be upon private tenants, landlords, the wider rented sector and others, and we welcome the opportunity to hear views on this proposed legislation.”
The cap on rent rises imposed by the Bill and the right to seek a “fair open market rent” apply to holders of ‘Private Residential Tenancies’ which have been the standard type of tenancy since 2017. The Bill will not impact rent-a-room agreements where the lodger rents in the owner’s home.
Staff are being put at the forefront of a housing and care charity’s strategy to plan its future direction as it prepares for life with COVID-19.
Blackwood will be assessing the responses of all of its 549 employees and using them to implement strategies to improve the work and lives of everyone involved in the charity.
Staff were asked to answer two surveys over a six week period to assess opinions on a range of issues.
Blackwood Operations Director Angela Currie (above) said: “We couldn’t care for our customers without the hard work of all of our staff, from those on the frontline providing care and housing services, to our corporate team.
“Many of us have felt the additional pain and pressure of working in the social care sector during the pandemic. The vital, company-wide support we have had from our colleagues has been a huge factor in our management of the pandemic.
“At Blackwood we believe it is essential to ask for the input of all of our staff. We recognise how important feedback is in creating a strong organisation. We want our staff to be a part of our planning and influence how we move forward, especially as we look to progress out of the pandemic to a more ‘normal’ life.
“All of our employees were sent the surveys, which take into account how staff are feeling about working from home, their work-life balance, and what they would like to see more of in the future.”
Blackwood’s commitment to staff has been evident throughout the pandemic. The charity launched a campaign, #ImInAwe, to showcase its appreciation for the vital work of front-line social care workers, which can often go unnoticed.
As part of the campaign, Blackwood gifted all 284 of its care staff a £90 Aldi voucher to help with their essential shopping.
In addition, Blackwood have further endorsed its desire to recognise the impact of its workforce by giving its support for World Patient Safety Day.
Angela added: “Our colleagues have gone above and beyond over the past few months, we cannot thank them enough.
“Through World Patient Safety Day we celebrate and value our teams as they continue to put customers first in unprecedented times. Utilising practical solutions to empower our staff, even outside of the work environment, is the key to a safer Scotland.
“Working with our colleagues on this survey will hopefully provide us with some interesting insights on how staff are feeling, and how we can retain some of the more positive elements of working we have seen over the past six months.”
Blackwood aims to help people live their life to the full, by providing services which support individuals to live independently. It specialises in technology and design innovation to support the role of its housing and care staff across Scotland.
SNP, Labour and Tory councillors in Edinburgh have rejected Scottish Greens calls to investigate and act on unlawful short term lets highlighted by a report by Lothians MSP Andy Wightman.
In July, Scottish Greens housing spokesperson Andy Wightman’s Homes First survey revealed just one property out of the 477 surveyed had the appropriate planning consents, suggesting 99.8% of commercial short term lets in the capital could be operating unlawfully.
Green councillors brought an amendment to the council’s Planning Committee which would have compelled the council to investigate the unlawful cases highlighted by Andy Wightman, but this was rejected by SNP, Labour and Tory councillors.
Cllr Chas Booth, Edinburgh Greens spokesperson on Planning, said: “This is a deeply disappointing decision from Edinburgh’s Planning Committee, to effectively ignore Andy Wightman MSP’s detailed Homes First report on short term lets.
“Unregulated holiday flats can make life misery for neighbours, and are a cause of skyrocketing rents in the capital.
“On the day the Edinburgh Poverty Commission warned that high housing costs are forcing people into poverty, it is completely unacceptable for the SNP, Labour and Tories to combine to do nothing to respond to Andy’s report. (see previous post – Ed.)”
Andy Wightman MSP said: “The Scottish Government’s action on regulating short term lets is welcome and long overdue, but there is no reason for the City of Edinburgh Council to wait for this before enforcing existing rules when it comes to planning consent in response to my report.
“If owners are so willing to flout planning laws and councils are unwilling to enforce them, any new licencing powers are at risk of being undermined before they even come to pass.”
Today, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission launches it’s final report, A Just Capital: Actions to End Poverty in Edinburgh.
In this blog, EPC Chair Dr Jim McCormick (below) sets out the Commission’s journey, what we have learned along the way, and what we are calling for next:
Our Call to Action in Edinburgh comes after almost two years of conversations across the city: with people experiencing poverty, the community anchors that support them, keyworkers, employers, councillors, public service officials, housing providers and taxi drivers.
This rich process has uncovered new insights on how poverty is experienced in Scotland’s capital city – some arising directly from the COVID-19 pandemic – but more stemming from long-established struggles. We set out much of what we had learned about the immediate impact of Covid in our interim report in May.
Since then, we have maintained a clear focus on addressing the root causes of poverty as well as mitigating the consequences. We have discovered common ground among people with different experiences and in different sectors: that poverty in Edinburgh is real, damaging and costly – but also that, despite the powerful currents that threaten to drive us further off course, there is enough determination in the city to embrace the twin challenges of solving poverty and reducing carbon emissions over the next decade.
We have identified six broad areas for action and one cultural challenge that should serve as a lens through which each action should be approached.
Our first proposition is that Edinburgh will only succeed in creating a prosperous city without poverty if it creates the conditions for good jobs, genuinely affordable housing, income security and meaningful opportunities that drive justice and boost prospects – above all, in the city’s schools.
In addition, a much sharper focus on connections across the city is needed – via digital participation, cheaper transport and creating neighbourhoods that work. These actions combined will flow through to reduced harm to people’s physical and mental health. Emergency food support should not become locked in as a fourth emergency service but serve as a gateway to other support that will ease isolation and build human connection and kindness where it has been lacking.
The common challenge running through all of our work is a cultural one. We call on the City Council and its partners in all sectors to shift towards a relationship-based way of working which gets alongside people and communities in a holistic way.
The experience of poverty is too often one of stigma, being assessed, referred and passed from pillar to post – a separate service and multiple workers for each need. This radical move would see public servants authorised to put poverty prevention at the heart of their day-to-day work.
It will mean new relationships with citizens, employees and third sector partners. It will take visible leadership and longer-term financial commitment. There are green shoots in Edinburgh and examples from beyond Scotland demonstrating how better outcomes for families can be achieved and fewer resources locked into multiple complex systems.
We call this ‘the right support in the places we live and work’ to signal the importance of local access to multiple forms of support under one roof and within walking or pram-pushing distance – for example money advice and family support offered in nurseries, schools, GP surgeries and libraries.
None of these challenges are new. The City Council and its partners can point to significant investment in recent years to turn the tide on poverty. But we are not persuaded that actions have been consistent, at scale, sustained over time or have poverty reduction as part of their purpose.
While Edinburgh has many of the powers to go further, we are not persuaded that it can deliver on the required social housing expansion without a new funding deal with the Scottish Government.
This is urgently needed to boost investment and to help unlock the supply of land at a reasonable price. Almost one in three families in Edinburgh in poverty are pulled below the water line solely due to their housing costs.
That compares with one in eight households in poverty across Scotland. Solving the city’s housing crisis will go a long way to delivering on affordable housing ambitions for the country as a whole.
At the same time, the UK Government has a critical role in creating an income lifeline for families in and out of work, by maintaining the currently temporary increase in Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance – both of which have become more significant as a result of damage to Edinburgh’s job market since March.
This Call to Action is not a list of recommendations or a menu of options. Reflecting our lives, each area is connected to the others. A plan for housing makes little sense in isolation from a plan for schools. Developing skills for employment will fall short if basic needs for secure, decent housing and food are neglected.
Nor is the ten-year horizon a get-out clause. We have worked on this basis because Scotland has committed to a significant cut in child poverty by 2030 and because many of the city’s existing plans run to the same schedule. We call on the City Council and the wider Edinburgh Partnership to set out its initial response by Christmas, as part of a first year of planning and early implementation.
And we are leaving a legacy through a new independent network, End Poverty Edinburgh. Led by Commission member Zoe Ferguson and our partners at Poverty Alliance, this brings together a core group of residents with first-hand experience of living on a low income and allies who want to be part of shaping the solutions.
Inspired by a similar approach in Edmonton (Alberta), they will stress test this report, challenge and add their own ideas, work with city partners to achieve progress but also hold the city to account on its response.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to our work in the hard graft of sharing painful stories, completing surveys and through organised and chance conversations.
Each member of the Commission gave their time, energy and ideas generously and for longer than originally asked. The quotes in this report reflect only a little of their brilliant contributions. Our work – and this report – was only possible due to the skill, care and patience brought by our secretariat team of Chris Adams, Nicola Elliott, Ciaran McDonald, and Gareth Dixon.
We have listened, been shocked and inspired – I hope we have done justice to what we have learned. Our Call to Action sets out something beyond hope: it is an expectation of what the city can and must now achieve.
Dr Jim McCormick, Chair of Edinburgh Poverty Commission
Read the final report here and the supplementary data and evidence paper here.
First-time buyers have less than a week to apply for the pilot First Home Fund, which has helped thousands to enter the property market.
The new scheme has been particularly popular since the housing market reopened in June, and is expected to support more than 8,000 households into home ownership by the end of the financial year.
Homebuyers who are completing purchases this financial year have until 6pm on 2 October to apply.
The fund, which offers first-time buyers loans of up to £25,000 for their deposit, was launched in December 2019 to pilot a new approach to supporting first-time buyers. The pilot will now be evaluated, with the results expected to be published in January.
However, recognising its early success, the Scottish Government intends to reopen for applications in the new year for home purchases completing in 2021/22.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “The pilot of our First Home Fund has been a huge success, helping thousands of people own their first home.
“The fund has been especially important since property sales resumed over the summer, and we invested a further £50 million in July to help ensure that first-time buyers could still access the market despite changes to mortgages caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“While the scheme is almost fully subscribed for 2020-21, I am pleased to say that I will reopen the pilot for the next financial year, and look forward to announcing further details of this in due course.
“In the meantime, first-time buyers will still be able to access shared equity schemes including Help to Buy (Scotland) and LIFT (the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers), and I would encourage them to consider these options.”
Cameron McKenzie, who bought a two-bedroom flat in Pilton through the fund, said: “Thanks to the First Home Fund we bought our first home far earlier than we ever imagined, especially during these uncertain times! The application process was easy to understand and Link staff were very helpful.”
The First Home Fund was launched with an initial budget of £150 million. The Scottish Government invested a further £50 million in July in response to reduced availability of higher loan-to-value mortgages caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
