An £11.3 million development at College Mains in Dumfries will bring 44 new homes to the region.
The homes will be built by Wheatley Homes South and will feature a mix of two, three, four and five-bed homes, cottages and bungalows, all for social rent. All will have low-carbon features including solar panels, energy-efficient heating and high levels of insulation.
The Scottish Government contributed a total of £6.6m towards the project. The contractor will be Ashleigh (Scotland).
The new homes are part of Wheatley Homes South’s ambitious regeneration plans to meet housing demand across the region, which will see hundreds of properties built across Dumfries and Galloway.
In 2024, families moved into completed Wheatley developments at Curries Yard and in Springholm, with work underway to build 33 new homes in Johnstonebridge with planning applications submitted for Lochside and Annan.
Alex Lamb, Managing Director at Wheatley Homes South, said: “Wheatley Homes South is committed to building new homes to meet the housing demand in Dumfries and Galloway.
“We are pleased work has started at College Mains and look forward to being able to deliver these much-needed new, affordable, and energy-efficient homes.
“Our ambitious new-build and regeneration plans will see hundreds of new homes built across the region There is a huge demand for affordable housing in Dumfries and Galloway and these new homes will play a part in helping Wheatley Homes South meet that.”
Work on the site is set to last around 15 months with families expected to start moving into their new homes in the summer of 2026.
In 2023, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Wheatley Homes South and Wheatley Group signed a strategic agreement to build new affordable homes and deliver better services to communities. The partnership recognises the roles of the council and Wheatley Homes South in delivering housing, regeneration, care, and support to the most vulnerable, driving carbon reduction and contributing to social, economic, and other objectives, including tackling homelessness.
It was previously revealed that between now and 2028, Wheatley Homes South will invest £39.1m in Dumfries and Galloway in its existing homes and communities; with £10.9m spent in Annandale; £14m in Nithsdale; £4.8m in the Stewartry, and £9.4m in Wigtownshire
Wheatley Homes South is part of Wheatley Group, Scotland’s leading housing, care and property-management group, which was named in 2024 as the UK’s biggest builder of social housing over the past decade.
