GLASGOW City Council has approved a five-year plan for the construction of almost 6,400 new affordable homes.
Targeted at 165 sites across the city, the strategic housing investment plan (SHIP) will now be submitted to the Scottish Government, along with the request of the £890 million grant required to deliver the new homes.
In addition to building new homes – the ‘vast majority’ of which will be for social rent – the plan includes acquiring an additional 550 private homes which will also be made available for social rent.
Councillor Ruairi Kelly, convener for housing, development, and land use at Glasgow City Council, said, “We will continue to work with our colleagues across the housing sector to make sure that as many new and high-quality affordable homes as possible are built in Glasgow over the next five years and are ready to accelerate this programme if new resources and investment become available.”
In order to meet particular housing needs, including the need for larger family homes, the SHIP sets specific priorities for new housing development within the city’s affordable housing supply programme – with 10% of all new homes in developments of 20 units and above required to be wheelchair readily adaptable, and the delivery of 40 new large family homes (four or more bedrooms for six or more persons) as well as an increased delivery of three bedroom homes.
It is expected that of the 6,661 approvals of social homes estimated to be approved in Glasgow over the 2026/27 – 2030/31 period, 4,807 (75.6%) will be for social rent, 1,484 (23.3%) will be for mid-market rent, and 70 (0.1%) will be for shared equity/partnership support for regeneration.
The council has also carried out an analysis of how the development of additional sites to those 165 already identified in the SHIP could support the creation of more new homes. This analysis found that 4,648 new homes could be built at 46 brownfield sites in Glasgow, at an estimated cost of over £649.7million. The cost of the wider SHIP programme if it was expanded and accelerated in this way would be just under £1.6billion for 11,559 new affordable homes and the acquisition of a further 550 homes for social rent.
