Preferred contractor picked for first phase of Staney Hill housing
A PREFERRED contractor has now been selected for building the first phase of housing at Staney Hill in Lerwick.
Hjaltland Housing Association chief executive Bryan Leask said the organisation is now waiting to hear back on a grant funding application submitted to the Scottish Government.
The social housing organisation went out to tender last year on a £9 million contract, excluding VAT, to construct the first 32 properties at North Loch Drive in Lerwick.
It came after Hjaltland’s previous tender – to construct 60 properties at a cost of £9.8 million excluding VAT – failed to secure a preferred bidder when costs came back higher than anticipated.
Leask explained that around two thirds of the cost of projects is usually covered by grant funding from the Scottish Government, with the rest coming from private finance.
“Once the tender is in then we have to submit that to the Scottish Government for them to assess it and determine if they’re going to give us the grant money,” he said.
Leask – who said he was unable to name the preferred bidder at this stage – expects it may be two or three weeks before the government comes back with a decision on the grant funding.
The first phase development will consist of three blocks of three storey, one-bedroom flats, along with external works such as paving, fencing and landscaping.
The 32 units being proposed would be the first phase of housing in the Staney Hill development, which is expected to host around 300 homes when finished.
Leask said in September that Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine had inflated costs far more than they had anticipated.
Ground and infrastructure work – which is supported by £19 million from the Scottish Government – has been ongoing for a couple of years at the Staney Hill site, including rock breaking.
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In addition to noise some local residents have expressed concern over dust.
Staney Hill is not the only large housing development planned for Lerwick over the coming years.
Infrastructure work is also underway at the Shetland Islands Council-led Knab redevelopment, which will transform the former Anderson High School site with new housing – with well over 100 new units expected.
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