In today’s edition:
‘Affordable’ housing tender issued for New Town Quarter site;
Edinburgh ranked ninth-busiest tourist destination in the world;
How much for an A4 sheet’s worth of ‘floor space’?;
Plans lodged for padel and tennis centre;
Appeal issued to help in the building of two ‘urban crofts’;
Almost 900 new-build homes started in the city (708 completed) during the final three months of last year;
Architect, Richard Murphy, to present ‘three ideas for the city centre’;
First homes released for sale at Edmonstone Village;
Appeal lodged to build South Gyle ‘green data centre’;
‘Lads’ Institute’ receives C-category listing;
Upgrade plans lodged to upgrade four Moredun high-rises;
Profiled: the young man behind Edinburgh ‘planning intelligence’ website;
Plans lodged for ten-flats block in Portobello;
The future of the Old Town: views sought;
Construction of Granton townhouses to finally begin;
Student accommodation development - on video;
Leith student accommodation complex reportedly given final go-ahead;
ESPC most-viewed property;
‘Mixed-use urban neighbourhood’ development plans lodged for Edinburgh BioQuarter;
Birthday celebrations: World Heritage site;
Trial launched of single-use cup recycling;
The impact on first-time buyers of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax;
Seafield retail park purchased by Crown Estate Scotland; and
Enjoy, see you next Friday!
‘Affordable’ housing tender issued for New Town Quarter site
A TENDER has been issued to build 108 ‘affordable’ homes on the site of former Royal Bank of Scotland offices on Fettes Row / just off Dundas Street.
The site - known as ‘New Town Quarter’ - is currently the subject of an appeal to the Scottish Government (here, PPA-230-2755), after it was rejected by the city council’s Development Management sub-committee, amid concerns about the proposed number of student beds.
Some 107 residential units are currently under construction by the developers, Ediston.
The ‘affordable’ housing element is part of Ediston’s overall submission for the site.
And says an entry on the tenders website, Public Contracts Scotland, here, by the Wheatley Housing Group: “This brief is to deliver the affordable housing component (consisting of 108 ‘mid-market rent’ homes delivered across a single block) of the wider mixed-use redevelopment of the former Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, representing one of the city’s most significant brownfield regeneration opportunities.”
The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter website, here, and the Edinburgh Live website, here.
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Edinburgh ranked ninth-busiest tourist destination in the world
EDINBURGH has been ranked the ninth-busiest tourist destination in the world - in terms of the number of tourists versus the number of locals.
The city ranks behind Dubrovnik, Croatia; Reykjavík, Iceland; Venice, Italy; Geneva, Switzerland; Porto, Portugal; Phuket, Thailand; Florence, Italy; and Lisbon, Portugal.
It is just ahead of Athens, Greece.
Says the organisation behind the analysis - car rental booking and comparison website, DiscoverCars.com: “This city had 1,714 visitors for every 100 locals in 2025, as 8.4 million people came to visit compared to the 490,000 people who live there.”
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How much for an A4 sheet’s worth of ‘floor space’?
EDINBURGH has been named the most expensive part of Scotland to buy ‘floor space’, with £204 required to purchase just an A4-sheet’s worth.
The calculation - that also sees Argyll and Bute the least expense, at £74 per A4 sheet - has been issued by property website, Zoopla: here.
The story is picked up by Yahoo!News, here, and also The Herald newspaper, here.
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Plans lodged for padel and tennis centre
PLANS have been lodged, for a padel and tennis centre at Fort Kinnaird.
The application is a Proposal of Application Notice (here, ref: 26/00189/PAC on the Midlothian Council planning portal), meaning in-person consultation events before the submission of a formal planning application.
The first is taking place on Wednesday (between 4pm and 7.30pm) at Danderhall Community Hub, with the second scheduled for the 21st of next month (same times) at the Conference Room & Piano Bar, Queen Margaret University.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.
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Appeal issued to help in the building of two ‘urban crofts’
AN appeal has been launched for people to help in the building of two so-called ‘urban crofts’ - plots of usually disused plots of land in the city turned over to community food growing.
Say organisers, Earth in Common - which already operates an ‘urban croft’ at Leith Links, here - it is seeking to create ‘urban crofts’ in Corstorphine (here) and Trinity (here).
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Almost 900 new-build homes started in the city (708 completed) during the final three months of last year
ALMOST 900 new-build homes were started in Edinburgh - across the private, local authority and housing association sectors - during the months October-December last year, according to Scottish Government statistics.
Says the government, here, there were exactly 894 ‘all sector’ new-build starts in Edinburgh during the quarter year, compared to 521 (Q3 2025), 153 (Q2 2025), 815 (Q1 2025) and 965 (Q4 2024).
Across the same period, there were 708 ‘all sector’ new-build completions in the capital during Q4 2025, compared to 780 (Q3 2025), 1,134 (Q2 2025), 532 (Q1 2025) and 1,006 (Q4 2024).
Read more, here, on BuildEdinburgh (its statistics section).
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Architect, Richard Murphy, to present ‘three ideas for the city centre’
ARCHITECT, Richard Murphy - behind radical redesign plans for Princes Street (here) - is the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the local heritage body, The Cockburn Association.
His presentation is titled, ‘The ideas which could transform the centre of Edinburgh’.
Ticket details, here.
Check out: ‘Princes Street, a reading history’ (here, on BuildEdinburgh).
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First homes released for sale at Edmonstone Village
THE first homes in a housing development off Old Dalkeith Road, near Danderhall, have been released for sale.
When it is completed, Edmonstone Village is expected to comprise 312 homes, costing £87m, and the first batch of them has been released for sale, by house builders, Avant.
A media release about the ‘release’ has been posted, here, on the Avant website.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News, here.
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Appeal lodged to build South Gyle ‘green data centre’
AN appeal to build a ‘green data centre’ in South Gyle has been lodged with the Scottish Government.
It follows a rejection - in February, by the city council’s Development Management sub-committee (here, agenda item 6.1) - of a planning application (here, ref: 25/04239/PPP).
The appeal documentation can be found, here. It says: “The appeal is ready to be allocated to a [Scottish Government] ‘reporter’ and receipt of the planning authority response is due on 21 April 2026. The period for interested members of the public to make representation ends on 28 April 2026. Any representations received by the deadline will be passed to the planning authority and agent/appellant for their comments.”
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‘Lads’ Institute’ receives C-category listing
A DEGREE of protection - not least against plans to demolish it for student accommodation - has been provided for the ‘Lads’ Institute’ on Ratcliffe Terrace.
The C-category listing of the building - here, by Scottish Government agency, Historic Environment Scotland - follows a consultation exercise - here, which ended at the start of this month.
As reported, here, by BuildEdinburgh in October last year, a planning application for student accommodation on the site was rejected by the city council’s Development Management sub-committee.
But a demolition request has since been submitted - here, ref: 26/00495/CLP - which is, according to the council’s planning applications portal, ‘awaiting assessment’.
Read about the building’s history on the local history website, Threadinburgh, here.
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Upgrade plans lodged to upgrade four Moredun high-rises
PLANNING permission is being sought, to upgrade four high-rise blocks of flat in Moredun.
One application (here, ref: 26/00959/FUL) is for Moncrieffe House and Forteviot House, both on Moredunvale Bank, while another (here, ref: 26/00961/FUL) is for Castleview House and Marytree House, both on Craigour Green.
The architects are Anderson Nell + Christie.
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Profiled: the young man behind Edinburgh ‘planning intelligence’ website
THE 26 year-old young man behind a website - that seeks to make it easier to interrogate planning applications in the city - is the subject of a media profile.
Harry Williams is behind CityScope, which uses AI to deliver what he describes as ‘planning intelligence’.
He is a systems analyst at estate agents, Rettie.
Read more about him, here, on the website, Deadline News.
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Plans lodged for ten-flats block in Portobello
PLANNING permission is being sought to build a block of ten flats in Portobello.
The application - here, ref: 26/00654/FUL - concerns a storage yard on Station Brae.
The architects are hLp Architecture.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.
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The future of the Old Town: views sought
VIEWS are being sought about the future of the Old Town.
The district’s local Development Trust is seeking to submit a Local Place Plan to the city council, as it prepares its City Plan 2040.
And to that end, it is organising in-person events tomorrow, on May 4 and June 5.
Details here.
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Construction of Granton townhouses to finally begin
THE construction of 28 townhouses on the site of what is believed to be the oldest purpose-built car factory in the UK (as described here) is set to finally go ahead, following the payment of a ‘developer contribution’.
Planning permission - to turn the ‘B-listed’ (here) Madelvic House, in Granton, into the townhouses - was approved last year (as noted here, on the city’s planning applications portal, ref: 25/02543/LBC).
The townhouses are being developed by ‘affordable’ housing provider, Lar Housing Trust, and the architects are Hypostyle Architects.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.
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Student accommodation development - on video
A VIDEO of a student accommodation development in Edinburgh has been posted by the building’s contractor.
‘Pepper Mill’ is a 155-bed complex on Dunedin Street.
And contractors, Clark Contracts, has posted a video of its work, here.
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Leith student accommodation complex reportedly given final go-ahead
THE conversion of a bingo hall in Leith - into a 200-bed student accommodation complex - has reportedly got the final go-ahead, following the payment of ‘developer contributions’.
The hall is on Manderston Street and the final approval was granted on the second of this month, here, ref: 24/01162/FUL.
The architects are Oberlanders.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News, here.
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ESPC most-viewed property
IT’S a double-upper flat in Gullane, East Lothian, that has been the most viewed property - throughout last month - on the website of the Edinburgh Solicitors’ Property Centre, here.
In second place, in a top ten list, is a home in Roslin, Midlothian.
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‘Mixed-use urban neighbourhood’ development plans lodged for Edinburgh BioQuarter
PLANS have been lodged for a ‘mixed-use urban neighbourhood’ development - comprising laboratory facilities but also housing - at the Edinburgh BioQuarter, in Little France.
The application is a Proposal of Application Notice (here, ref: 26/01477/PAN), meaning in-person consultation events before the submission of a formal planning application.
The application has been submitted by Scottish Enterprise.
Two in-person consultation events have been scheduled: Nine, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Plot 9, Little France Road (Thursday April 30, 12pm-6pm) and Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre, 5 Moredunvale Place (Tuesday June 9, 2pm-7pm).
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Birthday celebrations: World Heritage site
TO help celebrate the 30th birthday of Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns being designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the convener of the city council’s planning committee has penned a tribute.
Read Cllr Joan Griffiths’s article, here.
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Trial launched of single-use cup recycling
A TRIAL has been launched, to increase the number of single-use cups are recycled.
Says a media release issued by the charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, here: “Dedicated cup bins will be deployed on Market Street, Waverley Bridge and outside Haymarket Station to collect single-use cups in a new trial to test the effectiveness of on-street cup recycling and see if it is possible to boost the number of cups being recycled in Scotland – currently four per cent - and prevent them from ending up as litter or in landfill.
“Furthermore, the partners have teamed up with retailers including Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, Greggs and McDonald’s to launch Take It Back in Edinburgh.”
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The impact on first-time buyers of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
THE challenges facing first-time house buyers is examined by David Forsyth, of the Edinburgh Inquirer website, who looks, in particular, at the impact of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on the final price of a property.
Here.
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Seafield retail park purchased by Crown Estate Scotland
THE body that manages a range of properties, earning income for the Scottish Government, has purchased a retail park at Seafield.
Crown Estate Scotland has acquired the park - which includes units let to, among others, Halfords, Connection Flooring and McGuirks Golf - for £5,724,500.
It is understood the purchase is to help diversify the Crown Estate Scotland portfolio, which has traditionally been weighted towards rural properties.
The story is picked up by BE News.
Image details: Albion Terrace; copyright Mike Wilson