The West Down project was given the go-ahead by the City of Edinburgh Council this week and marks a significant step forward for the plans to redesign a 205-acre stretch of the Scottish capital into one of “the best new developments taking place anywhere across the UK and Europe”.
It will mark the city’s biggest investment in social housing in recent memory, with around 7,000 new builds planned for the site alongside a new primary school, high school and capacity for hundreds of hotel and student accommodation rooms.
A new tram stop in the centre of the development will also provide links to the wider area via the Edinburgh Tram network.
And while it’s centrally aimed at cutting the city’s housing crisis, West Down will also build on Edinburgh’s reputation as a foodie and retail destination – with a raft of new bars, restaurants and shop units detailed in the plans.
The scheme, devised by West Town Edinburgh Ltd, a firm created in 2021 when the idea was born, will also create over 27 acres of green space between Ingliston Park and Ride and the Gogar Roundabout.
Edinburgh is already a popular destination for city breaks, teeming with rich architecture, from its iconic castle to the Palace of Holyrood House and its packed events calendar – winning it the title of Festival Capital of the World.
However, the council launched an emergency action plan to tackle housing in March after noting “significant pressures to the [local] housing market, including homelessness rates and housing costs”.
The local authority suggested that around 7000 people were homeless in the city or living in “unsuitable” temporary housing – a problem that was amplified by Edinburgh’s provision of the lowest amount of social housing in Scotland, with an estimated two hundred bids for every available home.
The new development, which will include over 2,000 affordable homes, is a central way the problem is being addressed – with councillors enthusiastic about the prospect of a “20-minute neighbourhood” in the west of the city.
Council leader Cammy Day described it as “the biggest housing-led development in Edinburgh of modern times”.
“West Town will provide a huge number of the new homes our city needs and I’m pleased council officers and developers have worked together to get a great result,” he said.
“This is a major £2 billion development of 7,000 energy efficient homes alongside shops, schools, local amenities and lots of green space.
“[It is] welcome news for the city, for our climate ambitions, for the thousands of residents in need of new housing and for Edinburgh’s economy – which is bucking national trends and continues to grow.”
The Scottish city replaced Brighton as the highest-ranking UK city for foreign investment interest last month – with commentators attributing the appeal to Edinburgh’s robust public transport infrastructure and booming tourist trade.
