Go-ahead given to build 78 new council houses in North Lanarkshire

Jul 2 2009 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

MORE than 70 new council houses are to be built in North Lanarkshire.

The Scottish Government are to invest almost £2m to build 78 new council houses in the area. Central Scotland SNP MSP John Wilson hailed the decision as a “great investment” which will help to secure jobs and expand social housing during the current recession.

The commitment to build 78 new council houses forms part of an overall package which will see 1343 new council homes being built in Scotland this year, backed by £26 million from Ministers.

North Lanarkshire is one of 17 councils across Scotland which will share the windfall to kick-start a new generation of council houses for rent.

The package underpins the largest council house building programme for 30 years and is expected to support 3000 jobs.

Mr Wilson said: “This is very welcome news for North Lanarkshire and shows how the SNP Government is delivering what is needed during this difficult economic period.

“These 78 new council homes for North Lanarkshire will go some way to protect and create jobs in the construction sector as well as provide much needed social housing in what are difficult economic times.

“The SNP Government has been a welcome breath of fresh air to address the issue of social housing in Scotland.

“In these hard economic times the provision of thousands of new council houses shows the SNP is serious about boosting jobs in the construction industry as well as providing new homes.

“What is particularly stark is that in North Lanarkshire alone the SNP Government is delivering more houses than the previous Labour/LibDem Executive built in all of Scotland over the last four years when they were in power. Their six houses over four years is dwarfed by the 78 new council homes for North Lanarkshire.”