Scottish Cities Alliance

The Scottish Cities Alliance is today showcasing its new Private Rented Sector Prospectus in a bid to attract the UK’s property developers at MIPIM in London.

The prospectus highlights the market opportunity for the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in Scotland and the supporting role of the Alliance for the further development of build to rent homes across the seven cities. It outlines emerging policy developments and the supportive framework in Scotland to encourage further PRS investment.

MIPIM UK is the largest gathering of the country’s most powerful property players which takes place in London from today (Wednesday) until Friday.

The Scottish Cities Alliance is a unique collaboration of Scotland’s seven cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling) and the Scottish Government, who are working together to create the conditions for attracting investment, stimulating economic activity and creating business growth across the cities.

Through collaboration with property market providers, key agencies and stakeholders on accelerating delivery in Private Rented Sector / Build to Rent Housing, the Alliance aims to secure PRS/BTR Housing to enhance the mix of housing available in Scotland’s growing cities to underpin sustainable economic growth.

The Alliance is joined at MIPIM UK by Homes for Scotland who recently announced further funding from the Scottish Government for the Build to Rent sector through the work of Private Rented Sector Champion Gerry More. Gerry’s role involves driving forward initiatives to increase the supply of new purposed-build and energy-efficient properties to rent.

The aim of the Private Rented Sector is to create a sustainable community through the provision of communal spaces, providing excellent customer service, ensuring that management of apartments are to the highest standards, and providing amenities to meet the needs of the modern renter.

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown, said:

“This government is determined to boost the supply of housing across all tenures, to help create vibrant neighbourhoods and quality, warm and sustainable homes.

“The private rented sector has an important role to play in the expansion of our housing supply. I am committed to continue to make Scotland an attractive place for investors to operate in the long term and for tenants to have a secure and stable home to live.

“Scotland continues to lead the way in the UK in developing innovative financial models, such as the PRS Rental Income guarantee, which is attracting large-scale investment and accelerating the supply of new homes across the country.”

Chair of the Scottish Cities Alliance, Councillor Andrew Burns said:

“The Scottish Cities Alliance is delighted to be attending MIPIM London 2016 with our partners Homes for Scotland to launch our new Private Rented Sector prospectus.

“We are supporting the development of our increasing Build to Rent sector in Scotland through our proposition development and ongoing collaborative work to achieve delivery of investible Build to Rent housing projects across our cities and regions.

“Scotland is open for business and the Alliance will continue to support and promote the good work of our seven cities in order to attract investment. The key objective of the Alliance is to drive economic growth in Scotland’s seven cities and it is important that we are part of events such as MIPIM UK so we can reach out to investors.”

Allan Watt, Dundee Waterfront Project Director, said:

“The City Council owns the vast majority of land in the central waterfront, which allows us to work closely with developers, investors and entrepreneurs to create great opportunities for the UK’s private rented sector to capitalise on the expansion of Dundee Waterfront. We are very entrepreneurial in our approach, and would urge interested parties to contact the Dundee Waterfront Development team directly to discuss their ideas.”