Tory candidate backs housing pledge

GLASGOW Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr is backing plans to deliver the biggest social house building programme “since the beginning of devolution”.

Kerr who is a Shettleston candidate in the upcoming Scottish elections, vowed the pledge from his party would see 40,000 social homes for rent delivered across Scotland during the next Parliament, which is around 8000 per year.

He added that the proposals aim to reach the building of 25,000 homes in total per year by the end of the next parliamentary session.

The Scottish Conservatives would also introduce a Communities Bill which would ensure that any new housebuilding in areas such as Shettleston would be supplemented by increased support for vital services like local roads and schools.

Kerr said: “As we look towards the end of the health crisis, we are facing a looming economic crisis in Glasgow.

“We can help rebuild communities in Shettleston by getting to work quickly on building new homes.

“The Scottish Conservatives have bold targets to have the biggest social housebuilding drive since devolution began.

“It won’t be easy but this can help create jobs in Glasgow and boost the local construction sector. This in turn with our plans to introduce a Communities Bill would see new housebuilding also bring about improvements in roads and schools in Shettleston.

“The Scottish Conservatives have produced more ambitious targets than the SNP – but that’s what can be achieved if we have a Parliament fully focussed on building up Scotland rather than trying to break it up.

“If you vote for MSPs here in Shettleston that will be fixated on our recovery rather than another independence referendum, these ambitious housebuilding targets can be met.”

The SNP’s John Mason won the Glasgow Shettleston seat in 2016 with a majority of 7323 over Labour.