Council plough extra cash into more new homes

Jun 11 2009 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

AROUND 215 new affordable homes are set to be built in North Lanarkshire.

The homes – which are part of North Lanarkshire Council’s first new-build housing programme – will be delivered in a project over the next three years.

Originally, £17.5m was allocated to build 125 new homes across North Lanarkshire.

Additional resources have now been earmarked by the authority to fund a further 83 homes bringing the total estimated budget to £30m.

A further £1m was recently secured from the Scottish Government to fund around seven homes.

In addition, the council are also hoping to secure additional resources from the Scottish Government which have made a further £25m available to support new council house building.

“It’s great to see the new-build project continue to grow,” explained Councillor Barry McCulloch, convener of housing and social work services.

“And that’s testament to the sound financial management and commitment of the service.

“We’re delivering this project without reducing our commitment to improve our existing stock, which this year benefits from investment of over £50m to upgrade our tenants’ homes.

“In the current financial climate, the need for high quality affordable rented housing is greater than ever, and along with our housing association partners we are committed to delivering as many additional homes as we can.

“With the first phase of our programme set to go on site in Holytown this month, we are making real progress in providing new affordable homes for North Lanarkshire.”

Further updates of the project’s progress will be submitted to future committee meetings.