A MAJOR housebuilder has unveiled plans for 400 new homes in Inverness – and said the Highland capital’s property market was going through a post-recession revival.
Tulloch has struck a deal to buy 40 acres of land from Irish developer McGinniss Group, paving the way for an £80million investment at the city’s Slackbuie.
A planning application will be lodged soon and work could start on-site next summer.
Ironically, a construction industry expert warned last night that the north might not be able to take advantage of the market’s recovery because of a skills shortage.
The proposed new houses would be adjacent to Fairways golf course, between the Asda superstore and Tulloch Homes’ Greenfields development farther up the hill.
The company’s chief executive, George Fraser, said he believed the Inverness property market had undergone an “excellent revival” and that the Scottish Government’s recently rolled-out Help to Buy scheme would be a further boost for an industry that had suffered during the past five years.
He said: “This is excellent news for our employees, our loyal workforce, our supply chain and subcontractors which collectively underpins hundreds of Highland jobs. It will mean years of work going forward.
“The location is superb and we intend to lodge a planning application for the first phase within four to six weeks and be working on-site by the middle of next year.”
Mr Fraser added that Tulloch Homes was enjoying its best nine months since the economic downturn of 2008 and that year-on-year sales were up 20%.
Meanwhile, Construction Industry Training Board regional manager Sandy MacGillivray said employers in the Highlands had reported a lack of qualified bricklayers, scaffolders, slaters and painters because of a drop in the number of apprentices caused by the global economic downturn.
He said he believed construction companies were now regaining their confidence but that the north might experience a second migrant-worker boom because of the lack of apprentices.
Inverness-based Mr MacGillivray said: “The signs are encouraging at the moment, but it takes a period of time to react.
“If we don’t start looking ahead and encouraging more people to take up apprenticeships, the industry will become stretched.
“The last time we had a skills shortage like this, it was migrant workers who were filling the gaps. Some of them have settled here but a lot of them left several years ago.”
Mr MacGillivray added that several major construction projects had been planned for Inverness before the recession hit.
However, finding people with the right skills to do the work was a problem and the number of construction apprentices in the Highlands was now just 150, compared with 400 in 2008.
He said: “The challenge is to encourage people to keep training. Although the culture in the Highlands has always been very good for apprentices, they can only do it if there is a steady workflow.”
SNP ministers announced the allocation of £220million over three years for the Help to Buy scheme last week.
It will help first-time buyers and existing homeowners buying a new-build home with an equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price.