The for sale sign was put up in April following the decision by founder and majority shareholder Stewart Milne to retire after nearly 50 years at the helm of the Scottish house builder.

The company said “interest from prospective buyers was strong and the management team has been involved in fruitful discussions with a number of potential bidders.”

But Stewart Milne Group has now confirmed that: “The recent shift in the dynamics of the UK economy with higher inflation and an increase in interest rates, amongst other factors, have led the directors of the company to put the discussions with the current interested parties on hold for now.

“The Directors’ decision to suspend the sale process for the time being is fully supported by the group’s secured lenders.”

Stuart MacGregor CEO of the Stewart Milne Group said: “When we took the decision to sell the business in early 2022, market conditions were very different from those we are facing today.

“It has been gratifying to witness the level of interest in our business from potential buyers and we have been involved in a number of very rewarding discussions with potential buyers.

“However, given the current uncertainty in the market, we do not think it to be in the group’s best interests to continue to pursue a sale of the company with the current bidders at this time – although we remain optimistic about future prospects and will continue to carefully evaluate, along with the group’s key stakeholders, what is best for the business as market conditions settle.

“For now, we will focus on acquiring new sites for development and delivering high quality, family homes across Scotland and North West England.

“Sales interest has been strong across all our sites in recent months and the unique nature of many of our developments mean they are well placed to attract homeowners even in the current market conditions.”

Stewart Milne Group has offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester with a workforce of 1,000, including sub-contractors.