The only way is up for townhouses
J
With land values at a premium in the capital and demand for family homes at an all-time high, the only way is up for housebuilders and buyers who have fallen in love with the townhouse. Spreading the accommodation over two and a half or three floors means more house on less land and an opportunity to devise imaginative layouts that make the best use of available space.

It’s common for townhouses to use the full width or depth of the house to give a spacious kitchen/dining space, often on the ground floor, with a lounge on the first floor, and include balconies, terraces and roof gardens. This is the layout of the three and four-bedroom townhouses at The Strada off Ferry Road in the north of Edinburgh where a townhouse showhome is expected to open in the summer. Ranging in price from £249,000 to £330,000, the Bett/Bryant houses are already taking off with professionals and family buyers. “We seem to have a lot of pilots at the moment, as it’s very handy for the airport,” says a spokeswoman. “They can fly over and watch them being built.”

At Miller Homes Academy Gardens in Bathgate, the townhouses that start at £195,000 follow the line of the slope, putting homeowners on a different level from next-door neighbours. Up on the first floor an L-shaped lounge runs through to a kitchen/dining space and again makes full use of the entire floor, with French windows at both ends.

“It’s easier for people to go with a house type that they know, but once the townhouse showhome opened, they started going quickly,” says sales manager Liana Canavan.

Back in the capital Westpoint Homes (see article, opposite page) studied other housebuilders’ designs to come up with the optimum layout for their townhouses at The Garden development in the Grange, where there are currently two townhouses left, one at £535,000 and one at £550,000.

“We looked at other townhouses and took the best elements for our design, creating a home that appeals to buyers,” says Louise Caldwell, marketing manager for Westpoint Homes. “It’s not too narrow and you’re not aware of the neighbours on either side.”

Over at Bellway Homes’ Archways development in Chesser, the four-bedroom townhouses that start at £320,000 are appealing to a mix of professionals, families, investors and students’ parents. “We’ve made the design comfortable for families, with things like extra storage, and that’s why viewers feel so relaxed in the showhome,” says June Sutherland, Bellway sales and marketing manager.

At Bryant Homes’ Cramond Gate, the showhome is one of 14 townhouses that start at £525,000. Balconies on each of the upper floors have views over the Forth, and there is a terrace on the ground floor, adjoining a large open-plan kitchen and dining room.

Such is the popularity of the location, just minutes from Edinburgh airport and four miles from the city centre, that there are only three townhouses left.

Caryl Speirs, senior sales manager for Bryant Homes, says: “Cramond Gate offers country living with everything Edinburgh has to offer right on its doorstep. The townhouses are ideal for professional couples with or without a family and are ready to move in straight away.”

In Clermiston Kenmore Homes have eight townhouses at Fox Covert. The four-bedroomed showhome extends over two and a half storeys and has a master bedroom that takes up the entire top floor, while the other three bedrooms are on the first floor.

Kenmore Homes’ director Kim Prichard says, “We’ve had a great response from the house-buying public to the showhome’s flexible layout and we are very pleased with the initial sales.”

With so many of the housebuilders creating townhouse showhomes, it’s easy for buyers to check out the latest designs for themselves. And judging by the sales, they seem to like what they see.

• Bett Homes/Bryant Homes, The Strada, off Pilton Drive, 0131-552 0279, www.betthomes.co.uk, www.bryant.co.uk

• Miller Homes, Academy Gardens, Bathgate, 01506 651 356, or see www.millerhomes.co.uk

• Westpoint Homes, The Garden, 75 South Oswald Road, Edinburgh, 0131-667 6510, www.westpointhomes.net

• Bellway Homes, Archways, New Mart Road, Edinburgh, 0131-443 6286.

• Bryant Homes’ Cramond Gate, 34 Cramond Road North, Edinburgh, 0131-336 3738, visit www.bryant.co.uk

• Kenmore Homes, Fox Covert, contact Rettie & Co on 0131-220 4160 or visit www.kenmorehomes.co.uk