Almost £70m has been invested in housing projects through the Building Scotland Fund (BSF) since its launch last year, which the Scottish government say has supported the development of 5,500 new homes and around 600 full-time jobs

The £70m invested so far is almost half the projected £150m BSF, a precursor to the Scottish National Investment Bank, which provides loans to support the delivery of homes both for sale and for rent. The most recent loan was made to Stewart Milne Homes, helping the business deliver more than 300 properties. The £12m, provided at a commercial rate, is helping to fund construction activity across three sites in Renfrewshire and the Lothians.

This new investment is in addition to a recent loan of £30m to Sigma Capital Group last month, for up to 1,800 professionally managed family homes for rent. A further £26.8m loan was made to Winchburgh Developments for the development of 3,450 houses.

The BSF also supports SMEs to help them overcome barriers to accessing development funding. The first SME to benefit is VKRR Investments.Their loan of £634,660 will enable the conversion of an office building in Falkirk into five new homes for sale.

Scottish communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “I am delighted to see the Building Scotland Fund supporting these four very diverse housing firms. As we support the continued growth of the Scottish economy, it is important we help smaller builders enter the industry and take on new developments. The SME sector provides local employment and enables development on smaller sites which may not be taken on by larger firms.”

The Building Scotland Fund has worked in collaboration with the Scottish Futures Trust on the housing investments and invests in housing across all tenures, modern industrial and commercial property, and research and development.