MARYHILL Housing Association is working with Cruden Building Scotland on the construction of 16 new homes for social rent on Smeaton Street in the Ruchill area of Glasgow.
Due for delivery in summer 2024, planning permission was granted to build on the site – which has been derelict for at least 20 years – in October 2019, with minor work having commenced in March this year. The development will consist of twelve one and two-bedroom flats and four three-bedroomed maisonettes located on either end of the block.
The site will feature twelve resident parking bays and will have infrastructure in place for charging points for electric vehicles. There are also plans for an enhanced landscaped area with a children’s play zone.
Bryony Willett, chief executive of Maryhill Housing, said, “We are excited to announce the commencement of work to build 16 new affordable homes at Smeaton Street and are pleased to be working once again in partnership with Cruden to deliver these. We are also hopeful that the project will create employment opportunities and work experience placements for local young people during our time on site.”
Steven Simpson, MD of The Cruden Group, added, “We look forward to continuing our successful partnership with Maryhill Housing as we begin this new project in Smeaton Street – breathing new life into a former derelict site. The range of modern, quality, energy efficient homes, coupled with attractive landscaped areas and a children’s play zone will deliver a welcome new addition to this local community.”
Meanwhile, Maryhill Housing Association has also announced that work will commence to replace outdated heating systems in 578 properties across four estates with Dimplex Quantum High Heat Retention (HHR) smart heaters and highly insulated water cylinders from McDonald Water Storage.
The work will take place at the association’s Glenavon Road, Cumlodden Estate, Skirsa Court and Cadder Place sites and will be carried out by Hugh LS McConnell Ltd. The HHR heaters will connect to Dimplex Hubs which allow tenants to control their heating remotely via the Dimplex Control App.
MHA’s smart heater replacement project is set to start at Glenavon Road before moving on to other sites from the beginning of autumn this year. HHR storage heaters operate in a similar way to the heating systems currently installed within these homes, but are said to provide a variety of benefits including more intelligent controls, improved timers, manageable comfort levels and greater energy efficiency.
Adam Devine, property investment manager at Maryhill Housing Association, said, “We are delighted that our HHR smart heater replacement project will soon be underway and that we will be working in partnership with McConnell, one of the UK’s most prominent contractors, to deliver these to our customers. This is part of our objective to provide better places. We hope these new heaters will make a considerable difference in the everyday lives of our tenants.”
Eamonn McGarvey, MD of McConnell, added, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Maryhill Housing Association on this £4.8 million energy efficient heating installation project. Sustainable retrofit is at the core of our business, and we hope that the new high heat retention systems will bring a marked improvement for tenants.”