Housing associations to acquire council land in Glasgow

Ten council-owned sites across Glasgow are to be sold to housing associations to ensure the delivery of affordable homes continues post lockdown.

Housing associations to acquire council land in Glasgow

A council paper on the land disposal was approved by councillors at a meeting via teleconference last week.

Four sites on London Road/Springfield Road, Spoutmouth/Molendinar Street and the Gallowgate, Shawbridge Street and Cook Street are set to be taken over by GHA.



Thenue Housing Association plans to build 11 units on council land at Baltic Street and New Gorbals Housing Association will provide homes on the site of the Hamish Allan building, a former homeless services building.

LAR Housing Trust is set to build 35 homes at Killin Street.

The former Drumry and Antonine primary schools and land at Duke Street/McIntosh Street are to be sold but the nominated housing associations have yet to be confirmed.

Pollokshaws Arcade is also included in the list of nominated disposals.



All work will commence once the current coronavirus lockdown measures have been lifted.

Glasgow City Council said it had been expecting around £111 million in 2020/21 for the Scottish Government’s affordable housing supply programme.

But the report which was presented to councillors last week revealed “the ability to spend this has been reduced by the unprecedented suspension of construction work across Scotland due to the COVID-19 virus”.

It added: “Analysts are predicting that the economic impact of the virus lockdown on both the construction and residential markets will be severe and it is therefore imperative that Glasgow City Council maintains a throughput of development sites to help to maintain construction jobs in the city and to help people access affordable housing.”



Councillor Kenny McLean, city convener for neighbourhoods, housing and public realm, said: “Making sites available for affordable housing across the city is an important way of ensuring that more people and families can live in high-quality new homes.”

According to the local authority, the success of the future affordable housing programme within the city “will depend on land being sold to the housing associations as quickly as possible”.

As major housebuilders begin to resume work in England and Wales from today, construction projects in Scotland that do not directly help to combat COVID-19 have remained in shutdown to prevent the spread of the virus.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart recently conceded that the Scottish Government’s key target of building 50,000 new affordable homes by the end of the current parliament was “unlikely” to be met due to disruption caused by the pandemic.


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