Multi-million funding deal will deliver 41 homes to rent at key Edinburgh development

The housebuilder said it had completed its first private rented sector (PRS) transaction in Scotland after sealing the £10.8 million deal with Thriving Investments.

Fund manager Thriving Investments is acquiring 41 homes from Avant Homes at its 312-home Edmonstone Village development in Edinburgh for renting at mid-market rents on behalf of its New Avenue Living fund in Scotland.

The deal is also the first between the two organisations and represents a further deployment for Thriving Investments’ “New Avenue Living” strategy, which is focused on delivering energy-efficient homes for rent in well-connected locations across Scotland.

Avant Homes, which has its Scotland head office in Edinburgh, said it was committed to implementing a multi-tenure strategy. This has seen the firm deliver its new homes across the north of England and the Midlands for PRS and affordable housing providers.

Edmonstone Village has a gross development value of £87m. It is located off Old Dalkeith Road in Edmonstone and provides rapid access to the A720 bypass with Edinburgh city centre some five-and-a-half miles away.

Work is already underway on the 41 two, three and four-bedroom homes, which comprise terraced, semi-detached and detached house types. Once completed, the homes will be operated through Thriving Investments’ New Avenue Living fund.

Avant Homes partnerships director, Colin Connell, said: “As a socially conscious fund manager, Thriving Investments is an excellent first PRS partner for us to have.

“We are both aligned in delivering sustainable homes and creating new communities which is precisely what we are doing at Edmonstone Village.

“We intend for this to be the first of many deals that we do in Scotland with a range of PRS providers. Doing so will enable us to ensure we can create greater access for more people to our range of quality, energy efficient new homes,” he added.

The news comes in the wake of Avant Homes announcing that it was to deliver 52 new homes for East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA) at Blindwells, near Tranent, after agreeing a £10.6m deal with the affordable housing provider.