One of Scotland’s largest residential development schemes will soon be offering much-needed new affordable housing for residents in East Lothian.

Cruden Homes will start on site this month at Blindwells, where it will deliver 60 new affordable homes on behalf of East Lothian Council, following the latest land sale by developer Hargreaves Land.

The project, which comprises of 32 houses and 28 cottage flats, will take around 20 months to complete, with the first phase of homes due in spring 2022. The mix of terraced and semi-detached properties will be predominantly 2-storey and available to rent upon completion.

Blindwells, which is located 10 miles east of Edinburgh, has outline planning permission for 1,600 homes.  Hargreaves Land’s proposals also include new education facilities, a healthcare hub, local retail outlets and a range of other services to help establish a thriving new community.

Iain Slater, development and estates director at Hargreaves Land, said: “Good quality affordable housing is in short supply in East Lothian, so we are incredibly pleased to be making it available here at Blindwells.

“We have recently welcomed Bellway to site and work is progressing well on their Prince’s Gate scheme, whilst excellent progress is being made on a number of other elements of the scheme. Affordable housing has always been an important aspect of the development, but to be able to announce that we will have homes available for occupation at Blindwells as early as spring next year, is fantastic news.”

Douglas Proudfoot, East Lothian Council’s Executive Director for Place, said: “Blindwells is a key development for East Lothian as it will provide not just much-needed new homes but also new employment and commercial space as well as education, community and healthcare facilities and transport, public transport and other infrastructure. As part of our planning process, we work with partners to incorporate an affordable housing element in any new development, proportionate to the overall number of new homes being delivered. This phase of the Blindwells development will deliver 60 new council houses.”

In February, Hargreaves Land exchanged a conditional sale contract with Persimmon for a 12.9-acre plot, where there is capacity for a further 192 homes including 30 designated as affordable.

Fraser Lynes of Cruden Homes added: “The Cruden Group have a successful, long-standing, relationship with East Lothian Council and are very proud to be delivering much needed Affordable Housing at Blindwells.”

Hargreaves Land is the property and land division of Hargreaves Services plc, which employs more than 2,000 people and delivers key projects and services in the property and industrial sectors, with a growing focus on optimising the development value of its 12,000-acre land portfolio.