Housing plan

Members of the housing and technical resources committee rubber-stamped South Lanarkshire Council’s new Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) for 2018 to 2023 after hearing details earlier this month.

The new SHIP is a key element of the local housing strategy and sets out affordable housing development priorities which will deliver up to 2,670 affordable new homes across the region.

Of these, 573 will be in Rutherglen and Cambuslang. Hamilton will see almost 1,000 built and East Kilbride will get 863 with the rest being built in Clydesdale.

Chair of the housing committee, Councillor Josh Wilson, said:“A great deal of hard work has been put into preparing a well thought out and detailed SHIP in time for the committee to review and approve this well ahead of the Scottish Government’s submission deadline at the end of this month.”

The SHIP takes account of the Scottish Government’s announcement earlier this year that South Lanarkshire would have access to a minimum of £76.758 million in grant funding for homes in the three years to March 2021 – a 76 per cent increase from the figures used to prepare the previous SHIP.

The figures for new affordable homes include proposals by both South Lanarkshire Council and registered social landlord partners.

It is anticipated that over the five-year period, new affordable housing supply will be split across the four housing market areas of South Lanarkshire Council, targeting priority areas where there is real housing pressure.

The council hopes its strategy will: Increase affordable housing in pressured areas; increase housing suitable for older people and those with disabilities and particular needs; improve the quality and range of housing and arrest decline in rural settlements; and improve housing quality and energy efficiency with more of the energy used from low-carbon and renewable sources.

Councillors were told in the report:“As the Scottish Government cannot commit to funding beyond the current parliament, development priorities shown for years four and five will be subject to future decisions about the overall budget for new affordable housing in the next parliament.”

Proposals for years four and five will be presented when funding for those years is confirmed.