Aldermore provides £6.1m loan for Scottish housing development

By Bridging Loan Directory 23rd June 2022

Aldermore has provided a £6.061m development finance loan to Whiteburn Viewforth Development Limited for phase one of a housing development in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.

The development is a joint venture between Whiteburn Group and the Housing Growth Partnership (HGP).

The site is the grounds of the former Viewforth High School located in the east of Kirkcaldy. Kirkcaldy is Fife’s largest and fastest growing town with a population of just over 60,000 residents.

Situated directly north of Edinburgh across the River Forth, Kirkcaldy is on the East Coast mainline with excellent transport links.

The whole development will deliver 72 new private for sale two, three and four bedroom homes and 15 affordable homes.

Phase one of the development is comprised of 35 homes with a full range house types available. This development is set to breathe new life into this part of Kirkcaldy and will create a great place for people to live.

Whiteburn is a privately-funded Edinburgh based property group, founded in 1992 by CEO John Shepherd.

It has delivered a diverse portfolio of landmark residential and commercial projects in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. Today, the group’s focus is to expand its residential business; this will be the fourth such development.

In May 2022, Whiteburn Projects Ltd received the Home Builder of the Year (SME) Award in the Homes for Scotland Awards and are finalists in the Scottish Home Awards.

The company has consistently been an awards’ finalist since 2016, which is testimony to the quality of their homes. Whiteburn Group will work with HGP on the development. HGP invests in various SMEs throughout the UK all via joint venture developments.

David Whitehouse, Property Development Manager at Aldermore said:

“It’s been fantastic working with two such professional teams at Whiteburn and HGP to deliver a loan structure that works for all parties.

I’m excited to be working with them and seeing the development progress.

John Carter, Commercial Director, Commercial Real Estate at Aldermore said:

“We’re delighted to be able to support Whiteburn Group on their latest development at Viewforth, Kirkcaldy and very much look forward to seeing the site progress in the months ahead.

The Whiteburn team has significant experience in the housebuilding sector and our expertise delivering similar funding for developments like this means we were able to work together to provide the funding required.

This is a further opportunity to work alongside experienced developers in joint venture with HGP assisting in the delivery of much needed quality housing stock throughout the UK.

This transaction aligns to our strategic goal in building long term relationships with experienced partners.”

Eve McCurrich, managing director of Whiteburn Projects, said:

“Working with Aldermore to fund Viewforth is a fantastic opportunity for us as an SME home builder in Scotland.

I am looking forward to our relationship continuing to flourish and hope it will lead to further opportunities to work together as we continue to grow our business.”

Ross Baird, Investment Manager at Housing Growth Partnership said:

“We are delighted to back the Whiteburn team on this development, which has been a long time in the making and will transform the area with some high-quality family homes.

Aldermore have been fantastic to deal with both in terms of their speed of execution and engagement, to deliver a structured debt offering appropriate for this development.

We look forward to seeing this one come forward and hope it will be the first of many with Whiteburn and Aldermore.”