THREE of the prestigious houses built for Inverness’ controversial housing expo are being marketed as affordable homes as organisers try desperately to sell the 24 remaining properties before April.
The terraced houses, which feature Ikea kitchens, Neff appliances, ground source heat pumps and solar panels, are valued at £200,000 but are being marketed on an 80/20 shared equity basis, leaving the purchaser to find £160,000.
If the move proves successful, expo organiser Highland Housing Alliance is likely to try and sell more of the homes in this way.
It is working against the clock because a bank loan taken out to finance the event must begin to be paid back in April. The alliance has to raise the money through house sales, but has so far only one property - Twin Peaks, valued at £300,000 - has been purchased despite a major marketing campaign launched in January. At the time alliance chief executive Susan Torrance said she would be “extremely surprised” if all the homes at Balvonie Braes had not sold by the deadline.
The loan is underwritten with £6 million from the Scottish government, which has indicated it would expect to see all the properties, some of which are valued up to £330,000, offered for low cost rent out or sold as affordable homes rather than remain empty beyond next April 2012. This could potentially make them some of the most expensive “affordable” homes in the country.
Despite efforts by the Inverness Courier to speak to someone from the alliance, no-one was available for comment yesterday.
However, critics of the housing expo were not surprised to hear that almost all the houses were still on the market.
“The whole thing is one disaster,” said Inverness South councillor Jim Crawford. “We warned this would happen. The homes were not Highland designs, it was futuristic designs, where architects were given free rein. The prices are all for about £200,000 up and are way beyond most people’s means. We had a housing market in collapse and they were building futuristic homes that people didn’t want and couldn’t afford. It is disgraceful.”
And he does not believe shared equity schemes — aimed at first time buyers who cannot afford the market price — will help the alliance sell.
“I think it is a non-starter — will they be able to afford £200,000 shared equity? The market could fall a bit more and if it does you are left with equity on a house depreciating.”
Allan Macguire, head of property partnerships at Highland Council, suggested there were other options available to the alliance.
“If the houses are not all sold it can either let them out or get an extension to pay the loan back from the bank,” he said.
Mr Macguire added there was flexibility to vary the shared equity ownership down to 60/40 per cent share.
The remainder of the expo development is made up of a further 20 affordable homes, built for local housing associations, and eight private houses funded directly by developers to the tune of £2.3 million.
Councillor Thomas Prag, who also represents Inverness South, is more optimistic than his colleague, remaining hopeful the houses will sell despite the sluggish property market.
“The more properties sold and occupied there the better,” he said. “Shared equity is not uncommon it’s a great way for people to get onto the market and makes it easier.”
The houses on site are a mix of terraced, detached and semi-detached properties, using eco-friendly materials and heating systems designed to save money on energy bills and reduce the carbon footprint. Several of the gardens are designed by Geraldine and Wayne Hemingway.
The housing expo was staged in August 2010 to demonstrate the latest eco home designs. It made a £514,000 loss on running costs, generating just £137,000 from ticket and programme sales.
