By Ian McConnell

A NEW Highland town, which Moray Estates has been building since 2018, has laid the final brick on its 250th home as it enters the second phase of development.

Moray Estates has secured £2 million of funding from Bank of Scotland as it proceeds with the development of Tornagrain, which is located near Inverness.

The new town is “designed to help with demand for housing in the Highlands where population growth and the increasing popularity of short-term lettings for tourists has made it difficult for locals to buy homes”, Bank of Scotland noted.

The first 250 homes are now complete and the build of the next 500 - a mixture of one and twobedroom flats, and two, three and four bedroom houses is under way. Affordable housing will make up 30% of the next phase of development.

Andrew Howard, managing director of Moray Estates, said: “As a business, we can trace our relationship with Bank of Scotland back to 1695. We’re hugely thankful for the ongoing support we’ve had as it’s played an integral part in the creation of this new Highland town.

“Tornagrain is designed around fostering community. The emerging town already has a grocery store, pharmacy, nursery, allotments and other community amenities which will be shortly joined by a new café. We’re now really excited about this next phase of the building and look forward to welcoming more people to their new homes.”

Michael Thomson, relationship director at Bank of Scotland, said: “Moray Estates is one of our first customers so it’s hugely rewarding to be able to support the business continue to thrive in the housing sector. Creating new places to live and work is essential to the Highland community where demand continues to rise for all types of homes.

“[We] look forward to seeing the next phase of Tornagrain welcome new people to the area.”