Housing investment is coupled with rent hike
Plans to increase rents by almost four per cent and invest nearly £100m into housing in South Lanarkshire have passed the first hurdle.
The council’s housing and technical resources committee agreed to the proposals - which include building 455 new council houses in 2020/21 - last week.
However, the proposals will still have to be approved by the council’s executive committee before going before the full council when it next meets on February 26.
Daniel Lowe, executive director for housing and technical resources said the budget included a capital programme of £97.3m.
He added: “Our rents are the seventh lowest of all local authorities in Scotland and the lowest for social landlords in South Lanarkshire.”
Rents for council houses, travelling person sites, lock-ups and garages are set to go up by 3.95 per cent following a consultation where 84 per cent of residents felt that the rent they pay represents good or very good value for money.
Lib Dem group leader Robert Brown was concerned by the quality of some lock-ups and asked if increased rent would mean increased investment.
Mr Lowe said: “We are incrementally working our way through lock-ups. We are taking a more corporate approach to managing them.
“Our priority is the housing stock.”
After the meeting, chair of the committee Councillor Josh Wilson said: “We are committed to delivering the highest possible standards in public housing, giving people quality homes to live in and helping them save money and protect the environment by investing in energy efficient, well insulated homes.
“The capital budget agreed for 2020/21 continues to address our priorities to build new homes, improve existing ones and be fully compliant with the new Energy Efficiency Standards for Social Housing by the end of this year.”