PLANNING permission has been granted for a mixed-use development that will deliver 400 private and affordable homes in Inverness.
It has been declared that the plans, which have been put together by property group Hazeldene and the not-for-profit HHA, will help solve a “well-documented” shortage of social housing across the Highlands.
Around half of the homes to be built at the 25.2-acre site at Milton of Leys will be affordable, offering a mix of apartments and family homes to a range of demographics. A selection of the housing will be used exclusively for mid-market-rent, giving further tenure options for local people as the demand for new rental homes across the city continues to outstrip supply.
Designed by the Inverness team at ThreeSixty Architecture, the masterplan provides for “plentiful” green space, children’s play areas and transport links to connect the development to nearby amenities. Retention of existing trees has been detailed in the scheme.
READ MORE: Farage lives it up in jungle as bank chief licks wounds
In addition to the homes, land to the north of the site will be developed for commercial use under a separate planning application approved by The Highland Council in May. It is projected that this eight-acre site will attract a range of businesses and services, with potential for community uses.
The project has been managed by Glasgow-based property group Park Lane.
Gail Matheson, chief executive of HHA, said: “HHA wholly welcomes the successful planning determination, and we now look forward to now bringing our vision to life in partnership with Park Lane, The Highland Council and Scottish Government.
“The new development at Milton of Leys represents one of the largest purpose-built developments in Inverness in the last ten years. Importantly, the mix of ownership and tenure options will be beneficial for many groups of people that are in need of a new home, and it is a model that should be considered by more developers going forward, given its attractiveness to more than one demographic.
READ MORE: Profits fall at Nairn's Oatcakes as Ukraine war hikes costs
“The Highland-wide Local Development Plan identifies that there is an acute need for more affordable housing options and HHA is pleased to help push forward their ambitious housing targets.”
Brian Clarke, joint managing director at Park Lane, said: “Alongside the wider project team, we are incredibly pleased to secure planning approval from The Highland Council to deliver a mixed-use development that will provide long-term housing options for the local community.
“The lack of social housing across the Highland region has been well-documented and by including a 50% provision in our masterplan, we will help to alleviate the pressurised market that has no signs of slowing. Our planning application represents significant investment to the region that will create positive economic and social benefit to residents for generations to come.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here