Edinburgh's Sigma Capital launches maiden Scottish private rental project with 75 family homes

Sigma Capital Group, the Edinburgh-based residential development and urban regeneration specialist, has launched its first private rental development in Scotland.

Sigma Capital said the site on the outskirts of Perth will comprise 75 family rental homes.

The firm, which has already delivered thousands of new family homes for rent south of the Border, has kicked off the Scottish development in partnership with local housebuilder Springfield Properties.

The move also marks the launch of Sigma’s rental brand, Simple Life, in Scotland.

Sigma said the site will comprise 75 family rental homes with a combined estimated rental value of approximately £760,000 per annum, which equates to about £840 a month. It forms part of a substantial, new standalone “village” development of around 3,000 homes already well underway by Springfield at Bertha Park, on the outskirts of Perth.

The gross development cost of Sigma’s site is just under £12 million, including land acquisition. Construction on the site is expected to commence in late March.

Graham Barnet, chief executive of Sigma Capital Group, said: “We are delighted to be launching our first new-build rental homes in Scotland, with this development site at Bertha Park, as well as our Simple Life rental brand.

“Our strategic delivery partner, Springfield Properties, is an award-winning housebuilder and demand for its village developments is increasing.

“Bertha Park Village offers larger homes with gardens, ample green space, and community facilities, all within commuting distance of cities, and we anticipate strong demand for our homes.”

He added: “There is a significant undersupply of quality rental homes in Scotland and we look forward to continuing to deploy additional resource in order to help meet this need.”

The new village development is designed with “strong” transport links and community amenities, including a newly-built secondary school, Bertha Park High School.

Meanwhile, Springfield Properties posted first-half results, which revealed revenues of £94.4m in the six months to the end of November, up 18.3 per cent on the year before. Operating profits jumped 42 per cent to £9.8m. An interim dividend of 1.3p per share was declared.

Chief executive Innes Smith said: “This has been an excellent six months for Springfield. We safely and efficiently resumed construction to complete the homes that had been scheduled for handover at the end of the previous financial year.

“Our sales offices re-opened to significant interest, reflecting pent-up demand and the increasing desirability for the type of housing Springfield provides with spacious homes with private gardens and easy access to plenty of green space.

“Springfield has a large, high-quality land bank across almost all the key geographies in Scotland, which we continued to develop and received planning approval for over 450 homes. We strengthened our operations by implementing a number of efficiency and rationalisation measures that will reduce our cost base going forward.”

Alastair Stewart at Progressive Equity Research noted: “Scotland’s only quoted housebuilder has delivered a 43 per cent jump in adjusted profit before tax for the six months to November, as the country emerged from its extended site lockdown.

“We are maintaining our P&L [profit and loss] estimates for now but believe that, in the absence of any unforeseen circumstances, the risk has moved more to the upside.”

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