Homes up for award

A development of council houses in Blantyre has been shortlisted for a top award.

Wildcherry Court is among the finalists in the Inside Housing Development Awards 2019.

Nominated in the Best Affordable Housing Development (Urban) category, the South Lanarkshire Council development on the former site of St Blane’s Primary includes 20 new two, three and four bedroom semi-detached homes, semi-detached bungalows and cottage flats.

It was completed in March of this year along with a further development of 14 new homes in Blantyre at Morven Avenue.

The chair of Housing and Technical Resources, Councillor Josh Wilson, said: “We are delighted that Wildcherry Court is one of the finalists for this prestigious Inside Housing award.

“It is one of just seven developments from across the whole of the UK to make the shortlist so it is quite an achievement.

“It is worth bearing in mind that all our developments of new council homes for rent are being built to the same exacting standards.”

Wildcherry Court was built with the support of grant funding from the Scottish Government. The homes are energy efficient and cheaper to run, benefitting both the household budgets of tenants and the environment.

The homes were built as part of the council’s Home+ programme, which is set to deliver 1000 new council houses in South Lanarkshire by 2021. In addition to delivering 1000 homes, the council’s Home+ programme will continue to see significant investment being made in improving all existing housing stock and the quality of the built environment.

There is also investment being made to improve lighting, footpaths, walls and fences, bin stores, lock-ups and more.