Major Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties has earmarked its development sites in Perth and Dundee to deliver homes for the private rented sector.
Springfield – which is under way with its major developments at Bertha Park in Perth and Dykes of Gray in Dundee – has signed a deal to build hundreds of homes for Sigma Capital Group.
Under the agreement, Sigma will purchase part of these sites from Springfield and will award Springfield a fixed-cost design and build contract to deliver housing on the acquired land.
Following handover of the completed homes by Springfield to Sigma, the homes will be let and managed by Sigma under its ‘Simple Life’ brand.
A number of Springfield sites – primarily the group’s village developments in Dundee, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling as well as its development in Inverness – have been identified as potential sites for the build to rent development.
In addition, Springfield and Sigma will seek to identify other sites for Sigma to acquire for the purpose of housing development by Springfield.
Innes Smith, chief executive of Springfield Properties, said: “This agreement stands to accelerate our delivery of homes, particularly on village developments, and we expect it to provide a further revenue stream, alongside our existing private and affordable housing activity, with good visibility over cash flows.
“It will also increase the number of homes available in the private rented sector and contribute towards our goal of ensuring that everyone within Scotland has a great place to live.”
Earlier this year, Sigma launched the Sigma Scottish PRS Fund, with initial resources of £43m, including £30m investment from the Scottish Government’s Building Scotland Fund in the form of a revolving credit facility.
This is the first dedicated vehicle to focus on the creation of new rental homes for families in the private rented sector in Scotland.
rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk