Glasgow seeks £1.1bn to deliver 7,200 homes

Glasgow City Council says it needs around £1.1bn in grant funding to deliver its new five-year plan to help address the city’s housing emergency. The Strategic Housing Investment Programme, approved by the city council, will now be submitted to the Scottish government to secure investment in new affordable housing in the city. It includes the council working with registered social landlords to deliver up to 7,200 affordable homes, the majority of which will be new-build properties for social rent.  The priorities in the plan include increasing the supply of larger family homes and wheelchair-adaptable housing, as well as meeting the needs of older people.  The proposals also include supporting RSLs to acquire 550 properties that could be used to provide housing for homeless people. In addition, the council has identified 37 sites across the city which have the potential to deliver a further 4,320 homes. These sites include the opportunity for the council to work with RSLs to repurpose a number of vacant city centre properties for housing, which could deliver more than 800 homes. While Scottish local authorities are required to annually update and submit a five-year SHIP to the Scottish government, this is Glasgow’s first since declaring a housing emergency in November 2023. The plan also takes into account rising construction costs, which have soared by more than half since 2018, as well as the reduction in funding to support councils and RSLs to build affordable housing. As part of the SHIP process, the council engaged with housing associations, social landlords and the construction sector to gather views on the key issues and challenges, as well as investment and delivering more affordable housing. The council’s ongoing consultation with key partners on its response to housing and homelessness pressures has also informed the programme. It is expected that around 80% of the affordable homes built in this period will be for social rent. The SHIP includes a requirement that 10% of all new homes in affordable housing developments are wheelchair-ready adaptable and that 40 new large family homes – with four or more bedrooms for families of six or more people – will be built each year. Ruairi Kelly, convener for housing, development and land use at Glasgow City Council, said: “The housing emergency is one of the biggest pressures our city faces, and building more affordable homes is an absolute priority, both now and in the years ahead. “The SHIP reflects the reality of the perfect storm of rising costs, rising demands, budget pressures and changing demographics. But it is also realistic about what can be achieved in Glasgow and the difference thousands of new homes would make to our citizens. “We have strong partnerships with social landlords and right across the sector to meet all of our housing needs, including innovative approaches from acquiring existing properties to repurposing vacant office space. We are committed to working with colleagues in government to unlock the investment, deliver on our potential and meet the needs of our city.” View market analytics for Glasgow >> Photo © Tony Clerkson/REX/Shutterstock