Stewart Milne ordered to payout £1.7m over botched land deal

Housebuilder Stewart Milne will have to pay £1.7m after losing a legal dispute over a land deal in Aberdeen.

The firm was ordered to pay Aberdeen council a share of the profits from the sale of land, which it bought from the council in 2004, by judges in the Supreme Court.

Stewart Milne has bought the land for £365,000 and sold it two years later to a linked company, Stewart Milne Westhill, for £483,020, but the court ruled that this had been undervalued and had a market value of £5.6m at the time of sale.

The court ruled council was entitled, under the deal in 2004, to receive a share of the sale price and now stands to be paid £1.7m.

The council took Stewart Milne to court to claim its share of the profits in 2009 and was successful.

Following the initial court case the firm lost an appeal to the Court of Session and yesterday its fate was sealed when it lost a further appeal in the Supreme Court.