Scotland's housing industry showed fighting spirit as the winners of the 2009 Scottish Home Awards were announced at a packed out event.

300 guests from 35 companies celebrated at the annual lunch and ceremony, the culmination of a national competition which recognises and rewards excellence in house and home creation in Scotland.   

Edinburgh house builders, AMA (New Town) Ltd, collected the ultimate prize of the day, the 2009 House Builder of the Year, sponsored by Gillespie Macandrew.   The company had scored highly with three developments; the Printhouse, Edinburgh, Caer Amon, Edinburgh and Springside, a new development in the Fountainbridge area of the city.

Elgin-based Springfield Properties collected the most awards with three prizes for Apartment of the Year (Nairn Road, Forres), Conversion of the Year (Rathven Parish Hall in Grampian) and House of the Year for the Newton Highland houses in Alness, Ross-Shire.

Speaking at the event attended by house builders, architects, housing associations, Alex Neil MSP, Scotland's Minister for Housing and Communities congratulated the entrants and announced £9m of new funding for the building of 1300 new council houses in Scotland.  The news takes government funding for council houses up to £26m in 2009 alone.

In the affordable sector, Edinburgh based Home Scotland collected the award for Housing Association of the Year and Hillcrest Housing Association collected the development award for Gilmour's Close in Edinburgh.

Chair of the judging panel, Margo MacDonald MSP commented;

"I am very impressed to see so many firms engage positively with the Scottish Home Awards. Positivity is a powerful thing and it's very important that you take the time to celebrate your achievements in good years and in bad."   

Competition judge Dan Macdonald, Chief Executive of Macdonald Estates plc, also took to the stage to introduce the House Builder of the Year Prize.  He commented;

"AMA showed real passion and sincerity in its work and produced leading edge results which always made a positive contribution to the built environment."