New homes get only two viewings
A bid is being made to generate new interest in a Borders retirement home development which has had just two viewings in the last six months.
Five houses have been built at Peelwalls House near Ayton and marketed both locally and in Edinburgh.
Despite those efforts none of the homes have been sold and a show home has been viewed only twice since September.
Excel Securities wants some planning conditions removed from the properties in order to increase sales potential.
It has put forward proposals to create a retirement village of about 36 homes in the area.
Market slowdown
The main occupier of each house would have to be aged 55 years or over.
However, it wants to remove current conditions which mean the buildings cannot be sold as second homes.
It also wants to lift an obligation to fit care equipment to the houses.
A supporting letter for the application states: "It is considered that these two factors are critical to the potential to sell any of the constructed dwellings."
It acknowledges that a market slowdown will also have had an impact on the sales potential of the properties.
However, developers described the current restrictions as "so onerous as to make the dwellings potentially unmortgageable".
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/Print 2009-03-23