Glasgow City Council has today (14 January) approved the Strategic Housing Investment Plan for the city over the 2021-2026 period, a time which will see £469.71million affordable housing supply programme grant funding made available with the aim of building an additional 4,400 affordable homes.
The Glasgow SHIP outlines the city’s priorities and resources available for investing in housing, and does so to achieve the ambitions and housing supply targets of the Glasgow Housing Strategy (GHS).
The GHS has two main themes: increasing the supply and improving the quality of housing available to the people of Glasgow, and improving access to appropriate housing. The strategy also has six strategic priorities: new-build housing and area regeneration; the management, maintenance and improvement of existing housing; raising private rented sector standards; the tackling of fuel poverty, energy inefficiency and climate change; improved access to housing across all tenures; and the promotion of health and wellbeing.
The new SHIP takes into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular the 36 affordable housing development sites that were closed temporarily during the initial lockdown, with a subsequent average project delay of around three months. A key focus of the SHIP is to ensure the delivery of those sites in Glasgow identified as having strategic importance.
The 2021-26 SHIP for Glasgow was developed through consultation in October 2020 with the council’s housing partners, including housing associations, private developers, the voluntary sector, and other organisations. The council will work with these partners to deliver the SHIP.
Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm at Glasgow City Council, said: “The new Strategic Housing Investment Plan for Glasgow will help to build thousands of new affordable and sustainable homes across the city for all types and sizes of household, and meet the challenges of the pandemic in delivering developments in the targeted time period. These new homes will contribute to the development of thriving communities throughout Glasgow, benefiting us all.”
