Boost for affordable housing in Dundee
There is encouragement for affordable-housing seekers in Dundee with the news that a housing provider is to make a £3.1m investment in more than 50 properties across the city.
Carling & Co, which already has a strong portfolio of 180 properties, has purchased 45 city centre properties alongside a conversion project to develop eight more flats. This comes after the company secured a £1.5m finance package from the Bank of Scotland.
Plans
The acquisition of these properties is part of a longer-term five-year plan to develop over 1,000 homes for the affordable housing sector, both for individuals and families in need of quality dwellings.
Based in Dundee but with operations across Scotland, husband and wife partnership of Graeme and Leanne Carling pride themselves on searching for long-term investment for the affordable rental sector. Working together with agencies and charities, the business strives to support people who may find it difficult to find suitable accommodation due to their personal circumstances.
Mr Carling, who operates as the managing director of the company, said that, ‘we take a very unique view to property investment and letting. We are looking to cater for a social group which on the whole is overlooked by the private property market.’[1]
Boost for affordable housing in Dundee
Principles
‘We have very strict investment principles where we won’t purchase a property that does not meet our affordable rental criteria, as guided by public sector recommendations,’ Carling continued.[1]
Steve Ayre of the Bank of Scotland, noted, ‘there is an ever-increasing demand for the provision of housing at affordable rates within this geography, particularly on the back of a number of years where the pipeline of new build and social housing development has been limited.’[1]
‘Graeme and his wife Leanne have taken a group of properties that are lying empty and have turned them into a great social enterprise,’ he added.[1]
Concluding, Ayre said that he feels Carling & Co’s work, ‘supports often the most vulnerable in our communities by offering stability and comfort, which in turn can have a really positive impact on other areas of those individuals’ lives.’[1]
[1] http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/property-firm-secures-backing-for-3-1m-social-housing-venture-in-dundee-1.884234