Council set to snap up new flats for rent

New flats which are set to be created in a prominent former office block in Coatbridge are to be bought by North Lanarkshire Council for its growing rental stock.

The 39 proposed new properties in the former DWP building on South Circular Road will be sold to the authority for £5.4 million on completion by developers ML5 Ltd.

Housing committee members agreed to the purchase this week under the pathfinder scheme, which sees the council buy newly-completed properties“off the shelf ”, direct from developers.

The proposal is subject to planning permission being granted for the application, which was submitted last month, to convert the three-storey block into 20 onebedroom flats and 19 two-bed properties, including two for wheelchair users.

Subject to approvals being given, councillors were told work could begin early in 2022 and would take around a year to complete.

Members were told: “This would be the first time we’d acquired units in this way, by conversion as opposed to new build.

“This is an example of town-centre regeneration and repurposing of buildings; [this] is a very central location in Coatbridge and would therefore be ideally located in terms of access to amenities and transport, and would support reprovisioning plans of the multi-storey flats in this vicinity.”

Housing convener Heather Brannan-mcvey said:“these are exciting proposals that will not only bring a derelict building in the heart of the town back into use but provide much-needed new housing for rent and boost the local economy.

“One of the appealing aspects is it’s converting this building rather than demolishing and delivering a new build. This is carbon-saving through the retention of existing materials and less use of energy-intensive new materials.

“The development pathfinder scheme is an excellent example of an innovative way to add to our housing supply in addition to building our own new council homes; and our new supply programme continues to contribute to the regeneration of our town centres.”

A report for councillors noted:“conversion of the office will demonstrate resourceful use of an existing empty building to deliver much-needed homes for social rent in a central location in Coatbridge.

“Repurposing the former office by converting it into energy-efficient housing for social rent would use existing assets and [be] a carbon-saving construction compared to demolition and new build.

“Although the proposed purchase price is higher than the estimated open-market value of £127,290 per unit, it is considered that [it] represents value for money, taking into account the current cost of new-build development, and will help meet identified housing need and support regeneration of the town centre.

“The cost will be contained within the overall budget for the new-build programme; the Scottish Government also provide a grant contribution, currently £59,000 per unit.”