Roma Finance has funded the development of the first houses built along Passivhaus principles in Scotland.
Roma Finance has funded the development of the first Passivhaus houses in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Passivhaus buildings, which are common in Northern Europe, aim to provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling, according to the lender.
They are build according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute, and can be certified through a quality assurance process.
Roma Finance’s customer, Avongreen Abodes, built the first commercially available Passivhaus project in South Lanarkshire, which reached the 'gold' sustainability certification level.
The site in South Lanarkshire had planning permission for four four-bedroom detached houses with a gross development value (GDV) of £2.5m.
The low energy build includes high specification triple glazing, high levels of airtightness, mechanical ventilation systems, passive solar shading, solar thermal technologies, super-insulation to reduce heat transfer, and waste water recycling.
At the time the case came to Roma Finance, Avongreen Abodes had already completed the sale of the first house for £610,000.
Another two houses were wind and watertight and the final plot had all services connected.
The borrower needed to exit their development loan onto a more cost-effective bridging loan to complete the remaining houses for sale.
The second property then sold with a sale price of £620,000.
Roma Finance lent £550,000 to redeem the existing development loan and provide further funding to complete the remainder of the build.
Nick Jones, commercial director of Roma Finance said, “At Roma Finance we pride ourselves on leading the charge and being forward thinking.
“These houses are full of innovation, look fantastic and truly are properties of the future.
"Avongreen Abodes have really set the bar high for sustainable properties moving forward and I am really excited to see what they come up with next.
“We are thrilled to have been able to fund this build and hope to support more sustainable properties in the future.”
