The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Celebrate a sector that’s built to last
T HE Herald Property Awards for Scotland powered by Property Studios are back for 2021. After a year in which the house building industry faced some of its toughest challenges, this year’s awards will be a celebration of those individuals and companies who have risen to the occasion and succeeded in flourishing against the odds.
Part of the challenge has been to keep up with the demand from buyers as stamp duty holidays and a nationwide reassessment of how we live and work has resulted in an unprecedented market for new homes.
Meeting this demand while, at the same time, ensuring staff safety, coping with materials shortages and Brexit-led delays, has involved dedication and ingenuity but the fact that construction work has continued and homes have been completed throughout the pandemic, is testament to the agility and endeavour of all those involved.
Now it is time to recognise those outstanding projects and the people behind them as entries open today on what must be the most significant in the 13 years’ history of these awards.
For 2021 there are 18 categories covering everything from Best Apartment to Residential Sales Team of the Year. The judges will be assessing renovation and conversion schemes, family homes and luxury builds as well as seeking a worthy winner for Affordable Housing Development of the Year.
There are categories covering interior design for both residential and commercial projects and amongst the awards aimed at those who work in the industry is ‘Property Team of the Year,’ a title that in 2019 was carried off by Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company.
New this year is the Future Homes Award, which will recognise an outstanding project which boldly meets the need for housing to play its part in cutting carbon emissions.
Andrew McFarlane, consultant, DM Hall, and Chair of The Herald Property Awards’ distinguished judging panel, says: “The house building industry is having to adapt to new ways of working as it faces up to the threat of a climate crisis and we hope to see examples where developers have embraced change and developed innovative ways to cut carbon emissions.”
The Herald Property Awards for Scotland couldn’t take place without our sponsors, and Michelle Milnes, Managing Director, Property Studios, this year’s headline sponsor, says: “Property Studios are thrilled to be powering The Herald Property Awards 2021. As marketing industry trailblazers throughout 2020-21, we have seen the importance of encouraging and supporting resilience and innovation in Scottish businesses. We are delighted to play a part this year in recognising and showcasing the achievements of the leading companies across the whole Scottish property sector.”
And Alec Cassidy, Finance Director, Ross & Liddell, who have been sponsoring the awards since 2009, first as a category sponsor and then in 2011 joining the judging panel, says:
“It has been an honour and a privilege to help The Herald celebrate all the achievements in house building over the years.
We are very proud to be returning as sponsors of the Best Luxury Home category and look forward to once again being part of this year’s judging process. We wish all entrants the very best of luck.”
Other sponsors include Scotland’s Homes and s1Homes.
The Herald Property Awards for Scotland powered by Property Studios open today and entrants have until Thursday, 27 May to return their forms.
These, along with full details of the awards, are available right now at www.newsquestscotlandevents.com/ events/heraldpropertyawards/