A huge development in the Southside has been delayed indefinitely leaving buyers in the lurch.

Sanctuary Housing is building more than 400 flats on the site of the old Victoria Infirmary in the Southside including social housing, mid-market and shared equity properties.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Sanctuary informed buyers that the development had been delayed for the fifth time with no completion date in sight.

We previously reported that owners due to move into the properties in March 2023 were told the flats wouldn't be complete until December 2023.

Glasgow Times:

Now, in an email seen by the Glasgow Times, a spokesperson for Sanctuary said the housebuilder was unable to confirm completion dates at this point but would provide a further update in March.

Buyers have now been waiting around 71 weeks to move into properties they purchased in February 2022.

We spoke to several devastated first-time buyers who purchased flats at the development through the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme (NSSE) and requested to remain anonymous.

One owner, who was expecting the bad news, said: "I feel frustration, anger, and helplessness.

"There’s a lot of helplessness because you’re at the point where you don’t really know what to do or if you can do anything.”

Glasgow Times:

The only kind of compensation available for buyers at this stage is to reclaim their deposit, but they will still be out of pocket for legal fees, he says.

The buyer added: “Other than the financial costs there are emotional costs. The endless delays, uncertainty and being unable to plan things as well.”

Staying in a rented flat while he waits to move into the development, it stings to pay rent monthly when he was expecting to be paying a mortgage in his own flat.

Delays have forced the buyers to reapply for mortgages and two reported that their monthly payments had risen by £200 as a result.

A second buyer who purchased through NSSE said she was crippled with a mix of anger, anxiety and hopelessness.

She said: "I worry about a lot of things. I can't make any life plans, I can't book time off and my finances are on hold indefinitely.

"I don't understand why there is such a long delay with no explanation."

Another buyer added: “It’s completely baffling. I don't believe a word of what Sanctuary say anymore."

Glasgow Times:

The delays have caused his mortgage rate to climb from 1.5 per cent to around 5 per cent and he has been forced to rent a property while waiting for the flat to be completed.

He said: “We were told last February about three weeks before we were meant to get our keys that there would be another delay of around a year.

“I had already ordered furniture and I couldn’t cancel any of it.

“My rent is almost twice what the mortgage should be. It’s designed to be shared equity and it's designed for first-time buyers but it's costing a lot of money – I’m losing a lot of money because of this.

He added: “It’s been a really negative experience. It’s a lot of stress, it’s a lot of strain on you.

“Out with that, there’s a cost of living crisis added on top. It’s taking a massive toll.”

Since October, according to emails sent by Sanctuary, there has been no progress on services or fixtures and fittings which they claim are 99 per cent finished.

There have been three per cent progress on internal finishes (98 per cent completed) and five per cent progress on external works (85 per cent complete).

Building works are being carried out by developer Cruden Building which was awarded a £43.3 million contract in 2021 to complete the second phase of the project for 209 apartments.

In 2019 Cruden was awarded a £30m contract to deliver 135 flats for mid-market rental and New Supply Shared Equity sale as part of phase one of the development.

A spokesperson for Cruden said: "We recognise that work on site has taken longer than expected at this development, however, work is progressing diligently on site and we are committed to achieving completion as quickly as possible.

"The residential units in Stage One of the wider development are expected to be completed in phases over the coming months."

A spokesperson for Sanctuary Scotland said: "While completion of the development has taken longer than was originally planned, and we acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience this has caused, work on site continues to progress. 

"The new Marks & Spencer retail unit opened successfully in December and we can confirm that the residential units in Stage One of the wider development are due to be completed in phases in the coming months."