Construction begins on Blackford’s first affordable homes in 60 years

The developer is building 12 energy-efficient apartments for housing association Wheatley Group at Cala’s St Crispin's Court development.

The homes are due to be available in autumn next year and include two three-bedrooms, four two-bedrooms and six one-bedroom apartments.

Stephen Faller, Land Manager at Cala Homes (East), said: “This is the sixth time that we have partnered with Wheatley Group, bringing a total of 149 affordable homes through planning and into reality, with more in the pipeline. This demonstrates the benefits of new build housing, with this site alone contributing over £300,000 to Education and Transport infrastructure via Section 75 contributions as well as our own Community Pledge which we will be rolling out locally.

L-R: Hazel Young, Wheatley Group, Group Director of Housing and Property Management, Campbell Te Rito, Cala Homes (East) Senior Site Manager; Ian Murray, Edinburgh South MP; Stephen Faller, Cala Homes (East) Land Manager. Image: Ian Georgeson

“We look forward to investing in more sustainable developments in the city to support the delivery of much needed homes across all tenures. We are pleased to be delivering a range of one, two and three bed social rent apartments which will provide a brand new and energy efficient home for a wide range of residents, including families.

“With the recent housing emergency declared by City of Edinburgh Council, we look forward to getting to the stage where we can hand over the keys to the families and individuals who can start a fresh chapter in their new home.”

Ian Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, who recently visited the site, added: “City of Edinburgh Council were right to declare a housing emergency in November. 5,000 households in Edinburgh face homelessness each night with our housing market being put under immense pressure from the cost-of-living crisis and the fallout of the pandemic.

“It’s very welcome that this site will contain affordable units to help with this housing emergency and I hope the success of the St Crispin’s site will encourage developers to work with the council and social landlord partners to deliver the affordable housing urgently needed to help young people and families across our city.”

St Crispin’s Court development will provide a variety of three and four-bedroom townhouses as well as a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

The development, which is due to launch its first homes to market in 2024, is a continuation of Cala’s commitment to the redevelopment of brownfield land in and around Edinburgh, following on from a raft of award-winning developments in Leith, Trinity, Liberton, Queensferry, Ratho and Newington.

In keeping with City of Edinburgh Council’s CityPlan 2030 vision for housing, the development will contain a number of active travel measures, including extensive cycle storage for private and affordable homes, as well as EV charging provision.