Housing / Brevik housing plans on hold
ISSUES with contractor availability and the increased price of materials are stalling plans for a new housing development in Lerwick.
Planning permission is in place for 30 homes on the site of Brevik House on the town’s South Road.
The hope previously was to start construction in 2021 but contractor capacity is one reason why the development has been held up.
This comes on top of Covid related delays which previously stalled progress.
Martin Watt of Breiwick Bay Properties, the company behind the plans, told Shetland News there are “no immediate plans to develop the site in the very near future”.
It comes after concern was expressed in the council chamber of the capacity of the local construction trade for large planned housing developments.
Hundreds of new social housing units are set to be built at the Knab (SIC) and Staney Hill (Hjaltland Housing Association) in Lerwick, but no construction is yet underway.
Watt said finance was in place to proceed with the development of 33 housing units on the Brevik site.
“Significant increases in materials costs and unavailability of contractors due to high demand elsewhere, has meant we have not been able to appoint a contractor to develop the site as planned,” he continued.
“These are very similar reasons as previously highlighted by Shetland Islands Council.
“The Brevik site was provided, free of charge, to NHS Shetland for use as its Covid testing station and is now temporarily being leased to them, on a commercial basis, for use as an overflow car park whilst it has reduced parking capacity on the Gilbert Bain Hospital site.”
Plans for the Brevik development included a mix of one and two bedroom flats, three bedroom semis and five bedroom detached houses, with properties for sale as well as for let.
A hotel was originally planned for the site, but Premier Inn pulled out of proposals to build a 98-room hotel on the site, leading to the developer refocusing on housing.
Brevik House, located opposite the Gilbert Bain Hospital, was built in 1886.
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