A HOUSEBUILDER based in the north of Scotland has signalled a push south with two major new developments in the Central Belt.

Tulloch Homes said it is expanding with more than £60 million investment in a number of new locations, including concluding the acquisition of its most southerly venture at Fenwick, East Ayrshire.

Tulloch has also started work at Glenrothes, Fife, and has also completed negotiations for new sites at Kirkhill, several miles from Inverness, and Culbokie, in the Black Isle.

The firm also said that construction will begin in the next three years on around 300 homes for the South Stirling Gateway project.

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Preparations are being made to begin work next year on the Ness Side development at Inverness, in which 800 homes are to be rolled out over 15 to 20 years.

The Herald: George Fraser, Tulloch Homes.

George Fraser, chief executive of Tulloch Homes, above, said the latest expansion plan represents the first time the firm has moved that far south in around ten years.

He said: "We have been busy in the Highlands and Aberdeen but have not built in the Central Belt since the financial crisis a decade ago.

"But we are now firmly in growth mode, both north and south, and are examining the possibility of other Central Belt locations.

"This follows the success of our The Village development at East Kilbride where only a handful of homes remain available, and we feel the time is right to examine the south market.

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"We have now started on site at a prime location at Balgeddie Park, Glenrothes.

"Fenwick is well-situated, near Kilmarnock and just off the M77, so we’re pleased to be able to begin construction there in the first half of next year."

Mr Fraser added: "Ness Side, in Inverness, will be our biggest ever single development on which we worked in close liaison with local planners for several years.

"It will be the same at Culbokie which will be our most northerly development but which is popular with commuters.

"Existing Black Isle developments at North Kessock and Fortrose are nearing completion."

Drummondhill, a 128-year-old mansion and grounds in a prime Inverness location, will be subject of a development project next year, while new phases are also beginning at developments at Muir of Ord and Conon Bridge.

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Mr Fraser said: "Our major investment will, we hope, add to the air of positivity about Inverness.

"In some ways the city's growth and new ventures are against the Scottish trend, which may encourage more people to move north.

"The £80m Ness Side development will be a major residential asset to the city and we begin construction there in the first half of 2019."

Tulloch Homes, which is 95 years old, employ 150 people directly and a further 350 in sub contract and supply chain.

The firm said in March that paying down debt helped it increase its pre-tax profits by 13% in the year to June 2017, while its turnover contracted by 3.5%.

The turnover dip was from £45m to £43.4m and profit rise from £6.8m to £7.7m, which was thanks in part to the interest it paid on loans and overdrafts almost halving during the year.

After settling off its outstanding loans the firm earlier arranged a new £20m facility with Bank of Scotland with the aim then of helping boost its pipeline of homes.