Plans for a total of more than 1,850 new homes have taken a major step forward.
The three separate developments provided a boost for housebuilding in Scotland in the last month after the market faced a series of challenges, highlighted by the earlier collapse of Scottish housebuilder Stewart Milne.
One Scottish real estate business hailed £21 million funding for the first of almost 1,000 new homes at a former hospital site.
Glasgow-based Ambassador Group is developing the huge estate and now has backing from OakNorth for the first 74 homes.
The loan from OakNorth will be used to develop the new homes at Ambassador Group's latest site located at the historic Bangour Village in West Lothian, as well as support infrastructure works.
READ MORE: Scottish developer secures funding for first of 998 new homes
The OakNorth-funded homes will be part of the wider Bangour Village Estate, a 215-acre site that is set to consist of 998 homes, a primary school and nursery, café and restaurant, as well as transport links to both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
David Gaffney, owner and chief executive of Ambassador Group, said it is “delighted to announce the first release of handpicked homes at the spectacular Bangour Village Estate”.
There was more good housing news after a plan for more than 250 new homes was given the green light in the wake of a controversial coin-toss decision buy councillors.
Artisan Real Estate said it is to progress with the homes-led redevelopment of one of Edinburgh city centre’s largest potential sites following planning approval.
A coin was earlier literally tossed over an increase to Artisan’s Section 75 Education contribution, which this time was voted through in line with the planning officers’ recommendation. It followed an earlier amendment that suggested the developer pay £3m instead of a pre-set £1m contribution, which placed the project "in jeopardy".
READ MORE: Green light for over 250 new homes
Then, in Glasgow, plans for nearly 600 new homes for Cowcaddens by Keppie Design for developer Global Mutual were approved.
Also this month, I broke the news that Business leaders are “overwhelmingly opposed” to plans to extend parking charges to 10pm in Scotland’s largest city.
Thousands came forward as the news came out that Glasgow would bring the further charge to help meet required budget savings of £107 million.
This article first appeared in this month's Business HQ Monthy
Almost 15,000 signed a petition calling on the city council to abandon the future move, and business representatives said a separate survey showed one in four restaurants and pubs fear they could close as a result.
I also revealed that business leaders called for the 10pm parking charge policy to be reversed "amid widespread dismay” in the business community.
READ MORE: Glasgow charges 'will close one in four' restaurants, pubs
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said that "the majority of Glasgow businesses have voiced their opposition to the city council's plans".
Stuart Patrick, Chamber chief executive, told The Herald: "It is difficult to think of another policy which has received such an overwhelmingly negative response across all sectors.
"This has a real risk to jobs and businesses across the city and we urge the council to listen to their concerns and reconsider their approach."
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said that “changes to pay and display hours in parking zones were agreed as part of a budget that required to find £107m worth savings from council services over the next three years”, adding: “By standardising parking hours across all zones we are aiming to provide the maximum benefit for permit holders seven days a week.”
The outcry had the desired effect with the city council announcing on March 27 that its plan for the city centre had been put "on hold".
READ MORE: Glasgow parking charges plan put 'on hold' after backlash
In a Herald exclusive as part of our Scotland & Alcohol series, I reported that talks are to begin on the new "back to the drawing board" set of proposals on alcohol advertising restrictions.
It was also revealed that there will be "targeted engagement", as businesses brace for restrictions they fear could be costly, while public health professionals said it is "vital ministers put the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland ahead of industry profits".
In one of my best-read Business Week columns this month, a senior figure in real estate spoke out about the impact of rent price controls.
Will Scarlett, founder and director of Scarlett Land and Development, said there has been "incalculable damage to the Scottish economy" and with "no new supply, demand is off the scale".
In response to the concerns raised, Patrick Harvie, Tenants' Rights Minister, told The Herald: "Analysis highlights a variety of views on rental sector reform, and these findings have been carefully considered in our proposals to deliver a New Deal for Tenants."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here