Maven Property raises £4.6m to fund two Scottish residential property schemes

Glasgow-based private equity and property manager Maven Property, has raised £4.6 million to fund the development of two residential property sites in Renfrew and Clackmannan in conjunction with Scottish housebuilder, Ambassador Homes.

The sites have planning consent for the development of 94 private houses and 35 affordable homes, and groundworks are underway at both locations.

Maven said both sites are in prime commuter locations with significant new-build housing demand and the developments have a forecast total sales value of £20.6 million.

The investment house has raised the capital via a £1.6 million equity fundraise from its UK-wide ‘Investor Partners’ co-investor network, and a bank development loan of £3 million.

The Clackmannan development, situated in a commuter town to the east of Stirling, comprises 77 family homes located within easy walking distance of local shops and services and with excellent road transport links to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling.

The town benefits from the new Forth crossings at Queensferry and Kincardine which improve travel times into Edinburgh. The private homes are expected to be sold for between £145,000 and £240,000 and will be released for sale in early January 2018. The development will also include 35 affordable housing units, built under contract with Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association (a member of the Places For People group). The first housing completions are anticipated in July 2018.

The Maitland Gardens development of 52 private homes is located in the Moorpark region of Renfrew. The location benefits from excellent commuter links to Glasgow and easy access to Glasgow Airport, Braehead shopping centre and Soar family entertainment complex. The area has recently been developed with local shops, services, a park and a new primary school. The development has recently been released for sale and the first housing completions are anticipated in March 2018 with purchase prices ranging between £160,000 and £170,000.

Colin Anderson, investment director at Maven, said: “We are delighted to be working with Ambassador Homes on these high quality residential development projects and are pleased to be able to play a small part in helping to address Scotland’s well documented housing shortage. This is an exciting time to invest in the residential sector as house price growth has been and is expected to remain strong in the right locations and we are delighted to offer our Investor Partner network the opportunity to participate.”

Gordon Coster, managing director at Ambassador Homes, added: “Having worked on the pre-development phases of these sites for over two years now, we are thrilled to have partnered with Maven to secure the funding to progress the developments at Clackmannan and Maitland Gardens. We are encouraged by the initial levels of interest in the properties and are confident that their optimum positioning in key commuter locations will result in a very strong uptake.”

The Scottish residential sector saw a continued upward momentum in 2017, with market activity at its highest level since 2008 and house prices continuing to rise, underpinned by a lack of supply. According to estate agents Savills, the pent up demand has led to selling times across Scotland’s cities dropping from 12 to 9 weeks in the past year.