Springfield Properties is a Scottish housebuilder that sells private homes, builds affordable homes for housing associations and councils, and holds a land bank it says equals nine years of activity. A housing downturn pushed its net bank debt to £93m in November 2023. Land sales and cost cuts then took it to net cash of £1.2m by May 2026, a year ahead of its own target. Sales are lower than in 2023, and the company is now betting on housing for energy-grid workers in the North of Scotland.
Homes for buyers, councils and now grid workers
Springfield describes itself as a leading housebuilder in Scotland focused on private and affordable housing. Private housing is the largest part: 474 homes sold in FY2026 (year to May 2026) at an average of £348k. Affordable housing means homes built for housing associations and local authorities, helped by Scottish Government grant: 243 homes at £224k each. A smaller contract housing arm builds for third parties, mostly at Bertha Park, for costs plus a fixed mark-up.
The company says 100% of its homes are made off-site in its own timber frame factories. It also sells land when that suits it. At May 2026 it owned or had contracted 6,797 plots and held options over 6,211 more. About 4,100 of the owned and contracted plots are in the North of Scotland. 15 Sep 2026 17 Feb 2026
Downturn, debt and a land-sale rescue
Higher interest rates and weaker buyer confidence cut private housing demand. FY2024 revenue fell to £266m from £332m and completions to 878 from 1,301. Net bank debt peaked at £93.4m in November 2023. The board curtailed speculative building, built homes only once reserved, cut overheads, paused dividends and sold land.
On 13 December 2023 it set a target of cutting net bank debt to about £55m by 31 May 2024. It reached £39.9m. Land sales that year totalled £28m, including £10m to Barratt at the Durieshill site near Stirling, where Barratt will fund the site infrastructure in exchange for land. The dividend returned at 1p. The shares rose from 52p in October 2023 to about 94p by May 2024. 16 Oct 2023 13 Dec 2023 17 Sep 2024 3 Jun 2024 11 Jul 2024
“This profitable land sale will help us to reduce our debt position, which, as we said at the time of our results, is very much our focus.” 16 Oct 2023
The Barratt sale and the turn north
On 17 February 2025 Springfield agreed to sell Barratt 2,480 undeveloped plots, mostly in Central Scotland, for £64.2m in cash. It said the money would clear bank debt and fund a new strategy: focus new projects and land buying on the North of Scotland. It cited the energy infrastructure and renewables investment there, and the Highland Council's aim of 24,000 new homes in ten years.
The same day it set a target of net cash, with no bank debt, by the end of FY2027. Net bank debt fell to £20.9m by May 2025. The company also submitted about 1,400 acres to the Highland Council's call for housing sites. 17 Feb 2025 17 Feb 2025 16 Sep 2025
“The proceeds will accelerate the removal of our debt and support our strategic focus of capitalising on the unprecedented growth opportunity in the North of Scotland.” 17 Feb 2025
A lease deal with the grid builder
In December 2025 Springfield signed an initial agreement with SSEN Transmission, the company upgrading the national electricity grid. It covers 293 homes on six sites in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire. Springfield builds them over about three years. SSEN leases them for an initial four years to house its workers. Springfield gets a payment on handover and then monthly rent. At the end of the lease it can sell the homes privately, to rental providers or to affordable housing providers.
The first main works agreement, for 39 homes, was signed on 18 September 2026. The company says it is talking to other infrastructure providers on similar terms. 17 Dec 2025 17 Feb 2026 15 Sep 2026 18 Sep 2026
Debt targets met, sales and profit smaller
Management beat its debt targets. The £55m target was beaten by about £15m. Net cash came in FY2026 against a target of FY2027, and the company says that was significantly ahead of market expectations. Cost cutting and land sales did the work. The pause on new fixed-price affordable contracts, followed by new contracts on stronger terms, lifted affordable margins.
The cost was a smaller business. Revenue fell from £332m in FY2023 to £244m in FY2026. Completions fell from 1,301 to 735. FY2026 adjusted pre-tax profit was £12.9m against £20.1m in FY2025, which had a large land-sale boost. Gross margin fell to 16.4% from 18.6%. The plan to sell remaining Central Scotland land has also been reversed: the stronger balance sheet now lets the company build those sites itself. The company says this will keep more staff employed and raise overheads, with higher profit expected in the medium term. 13 Dec 2023 17 Sep 2024 16 Sep 2025 15 Sep 2026 17 Feb 2025
Same team, large founder stake
Innes Smith is chief executive and Iain Logan chief financial officer. Sandy Adam is chairman. He sold 2.27m shares in November 2025 to meet institutional demand and kept 21.4%. In March 2026 he and his wife moved 15m shares to a family trust at no cost. Smith sold 100,000 shares at 132.5p in January 2026, which the company called routine financial planning.
Executive share awards depend on earnings per share, plus a debt-to-assets measure in the 2023 award and build-to-rent targets in the October 2025 award. Roger Eddie retired as a non-executive director in November 2023 after 15 years. Johnston Carmichael replaced BDO as auditor in April 2025. Downing LLP held 4.0% by July 2026. 13 Nov 2025 7 Jan 2026 23 Mar 2026 1 Nov 2023 29 Oct 2025 1 Nov 2023 9 Apr 2025 2 Jul 2026
Net cash, a dividend and a buyback
FY2026 revenue was £243.7m, down 13% because the previous year had £60.5m of land sales against £14.1m. Private housing revenue rose 6% and affordable housing 10%. Net bank cash was £1.2m. After year-end Springfield sold 170 central Scotland plots for £12.0m and paid the final £20.7m of deferred consideration for the 2022 Mactaggart & Mickel acquisition. A new bank facility runs to August 2028, with a limit that fell from £77.5m to £47.5m in August 2026.
The board proposed a 3.0p dividend, up from 2.0p, and on 16 September 2026 started a buyback of up to about 5.96m shares, roughly 5% of the company. Management says the market undervalues housebuilders and its shares. The shares fell from 133p in January 2026 to 93p in May; the company has not given a reason. They closed September 2026 at 114.5p. 15 Sep 2026 17 Aug 2026 21 Aug 2026 16 Sep 2026 4 Jun 2026
North of Scotland and Central Scotland
Management says the private reservation rate has been steady since year-end and affordable contracts continue on favourable terms. The Scottish Government has committed £4.9bn to affordable housing over four years. The company expects more build-and-lease agreements for further SSEN sites soon. The Highland Council's Local Plan is due by the end of calendar 2026, and the company expects more of its sites to be allocated.
The company also plans to develop its Central Scotland land itself and may buy more there on attractive terms. The company has said it expects more profit in the medium term from that. The buyback runs to the close of the 2026 AGM or until the maximum is reached. 15 Sep 2026 18 Sep 2026 16 Sep 2025 16 Sep 2026
“we expect to sign build and lease agreements for further sites in the near term” 18 Sep 2026
Written by AI from Springfield Properties's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources