1,000 houses as Fraser Homes agrees deal worth up to £180m

The project which is due to be delivered over the next 10 years could be worth up to £180 million and secure hundreds of jobs.

EuroAuctions, owned by the Keys family, is a successful global construction equipment auctioneering business and also has an extensive commercial and residential property portfolio.

Fraser Homes, one of Northern Ireland’s best known house builders, has an extensive portfolio of sites in greater Belfast, Saintfield, Carryduff, Newtownards and Larne.

The agreement will see the development of those residential development sites brought forward as the housing market continues to improve.

“For a number of years now, there has been an under-supply of new houses being built in the Northern Ireland marketplace alongside increasing demand for first time buyer and family homes,” said Derek Keys of EuroAuctions.

“We are currently active in the residential construction market in mid-Ulster and the west and we see this agreement with Fraser Homes as a perfect opportunity to give us an expanded presence across the whole of Northern Ireland given Fraser’s extensive land holdings in the greater Belfast area.

“Fraser Homes have a long established reputation and experience in the residential construction market, following this agreement, we plan to complete at least 100 new builds per annum with the aim of building out around a 1,000 homes in the coming years.”

David Fraser, son of the founder Bill Fraser, who will remain at the helm of the company, added: “For over 50 years we have built over 4,500 high quality homes across Northern Ireland and we are pleased and proud that our tradition and family heritage in house building will continue under this new agreement.

“We are also pleased to be joining another Northern Ireland family company with similar values and the same commitment to excellence as we have always had.”

Simon Brien, of Simon Brien Residential, who brokered the agreement on behalf of both parties, said: “This new and very welcome agreement is very important in a rising marketplace because it will provide new, high quality homes in areas of high housing demand.

“Bringing Fraser Homes and Gardrum Group together in this way can only be good for the housing market and we expect a steady supply of new homes to be coming to the market place almost immediately as a result of this agreement.”