A STRONG player in the letting market is emerging these days. It is the Morrison Construction Group, already well known as a builder and developer - now moving strongly into the rental aspect, specifically with its house-letting arm.
For Morrison Residential already deals with some 400 properties, mainly flats. Most of these are new-build, covering a broad range from one-bedroom apartments upwards.
And there is an extensive geographical spread involved too. This already covers towns from Aberdeen to Gala-shiels, taking in the main cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and including properties in Inverness, Dundee, Falkirk and Ayrshire.
That is not the end of the story, however. For, as Ralph Weir points out: ''Morrison is looking to double, and possibly treble its provision of properties in the next few years. Reaching a figure of 1000 premises for rental by the turn of the century is by no means impossible.
''There is a lot of stability in the letting market, and a lot of demand. We have the necessary expertise in this line of operations, and see our target as perfectly viable. Letting is big business nowadays. Our own involvement runs to some #25m, and new players are coming into the market regularly.''
In order to retain its major position, Morrison has been extending its base portfolio and creating new lets in Scotland on a regular basis.
A development of mainly two-bedroom flats in Irvine, for example, in a central location and part-furnished, has proved popular. These 30 new flats, letting for #325 a month, are almost completely taken up.
Single to three-bedroom flats at Grandfield, in Edinburgh's Trinity district, with provision of off-street parking, are two years old and go for #335- #480 a month. A luxury development of 36 flats in the capital, near Corstorphine, is scheduled to open early next year: unfurnished two-bedroom flats will be on the market at #520-#550 a month.
There are 56 new flats in Paisley, to be available from the summer, and there is even word of the group looking to produce around 50 flats in Manchester next year.
Yet one of the most interesting developments is in Scotland, with a Riverside Green development in Dundee, where 25 flats are sited. Mainly two-bedroom in size, and with the provision of off-street parking, they also come with their own built-in swimming pool and Jacuzzi, plus an external feature lift. They go for around #380 a month in this case.
A recent Scottish development - albeit without the pool or special lift - was in Glasgow, where flats off Belmont Street have proved popular with a range of takers, from the academic field at the nearby university to business executives.
As Ralph Weir puts it: ''We are confident that we are providing the market with what is wanted - good-quality accommodation at reasonable prices. That is what we intend to continue to provide.''
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