Hillcrest deal secures long-term future for Broughty Ferry tenants

Long-term tenancies for Broughty Ferry residents have been secured under a Hillcrest Homes deal to buy 15 apartments near the seafront.

The Sandy Loan properties were built five years ago under the Scottish Government’s National Housing Trust (NHT) initiative, an affordable rent programme run and managed by the Scottish Futures Trust.

The initiative has seen more than 1,700 NHT homes built across Scotland, requiring them to be available for affordable rent for five to 10 years prior to the properties being sold either to the sitting tenant, the local authority, or eventually on the open market.

While engagement with the Sandy Loan tenants established that they would not pursue the option to purchase their homes now, Hillcrest has committed that if any sitting tenants want to purchase at an agreed point in the future they will be able to do so, but are otherwise able to remain mid-market rent tenants.

The purchase of the properties has been made possible with the aid of Scottish

Government funding and the support of Dundee City Council and Scottish Futures Trust.

Hillcrest deputy chief executive Fiona Morrison said: “We’re delighted to have completed the purchase of the homes at Sandy Loan, particularly with the lack of affordable housing in the pressured area of Broughty Ferry.

“These homes have proven popular with the tenants who have settled into them and enjoyed their great location, and it’s fantastic that our purchase of them will now remove any uncertainty the tenants may have had around the future of their homes.”

Dundee City Council neighbourhood services convener Anne Rendall said: “This is great news and the council is proud to have played a part in establishing these properties.

“The scheme delivered much needed quality housing, in an area of the city in which it has been traditionally difficult to build affordably priced homes in. The purchase is a welcome development for the future.”

Picture: John Stevenson.