A DEVELOPMENT of new homes in Brooms Road, Dumfries will take longer to complete than previously announced.
That’s the warning from social landlord Loreburn who say they remain committed to the scheme but are planning to deliver it ‘over a potentially longer timeframe’.
It is one of three priorities for the organisation, along with sites in Langholm and Moffat.
However, all their other new build projects, totalling 293 homes, have been delayed indefinitely due to “challenging financial times”.
In a statement, Loreburn said: “At Loreburn we have been and still are dedicated to delivering transformative projects that positively impact on the communities we serve.
“Our management committee have considered the current and future forecasts for the external economy and came to the difficult decision to pause our ambitious plans to deliver another potential 293 new homes over the next few years during these challenging financial times. This includes delaying all the proposed new build projects indefinitely.
“We also need to balance our ambitions to build new homes with improving the energy efficiency of our existing homes and with rising interest rates and inflation we cannot deliver both. We don’t want to create a two-tier system where some of our tenants are in highly energy efficient homes that are cheaper to run and have others in homes that are cold and hard to heat.”
They say they understand the importance of the various projects to local communities, and empathise with any concerns arising from the delays, adding: “Our team is actively engaged in discussions with relevant stakeholders, including financial partners and local authorities, to mitigate the impact of increased finance costs and find suitable solutions to resume construction, as and when the business case supports investment.
“We remain optimistic about the future of these projects and the positive impacts they will have on our communities once completed.”
Loreburn Housing Association is one of the region’s largest social landlords, providing 2600 homes across Dumfries and Galloway.
It is non-profit making, allowing reinvestment into building more homes and maintaining existing homes.
