This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding for Glasgow regeneration
12/03/2007
An £86 million investment for housing and regeneration in Glasgow was announced today.
A total of £83 million will go to Glasgow City Council for strategic housing investment providing almost 1,500 new affordable homes over the coming year.
A further £3 million will go to the Clyde Gateway for regeneration.
Speaking at a new housing development in the Oatlands area of the city, Communities Minister Rhona Brankin said:
"A huge amount has already been achieved in Glasgow through record Executive investment and more effective working with all our local partners.
"We have already seen a huge transformation over the last four years in providing more warm, decent homes that people deserve.
"But we want to do a lot more. Today's announcement means almost 1,500 new homes over the next year.
"It will help create mixed, vibrant communities with a range of homes for rent and for low cost ownership through the Homestake scheme.
"And the early action funding will help Clyde Gateway spearhead regeneration in its plans for the longer term - over the next 25 years.
"This isn't just about bricks and mortar or a new skyline over the Clyde.
"It is about investing future jobs and opportunities and breathing new life into the Gateway for the benefit of the people who live, work and invest there.
"A lot of good progress has been made by Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council and other partners in establishing the Gateway as a new Urban Generation Company. We want to build on this successful foundation."
Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, said:
"We're delivering nothing short of a revolution in housing across the city.
"We're doubling our investment in Homestake, whereby we'll help ordinary working men and women - who perhaps can't afford to buy a home in their community - a helping hand onto the property ladder.
"This is an investment in the future, where we are providing good quality homes, not only for those coming into the private property market, but hundreds more which will improve the lives of our elderly and disabled citizens."
Communities Scotland's Director for Glasgow Shona Stephen said:
"In addition to the millions for new homes and the contribution they make to the wider regeneration of the city, the Executive is committed to ensuring that the investment increases opportunities for training and employment for people in Glasgow.
"Communities Scotland's Glasgow team will continue to work with Glasgow City Council and local housing associations to identify need and get best value for money in delivering quality homes for people across the area."
The news came as the Executive confirmed that an early action fund of £3 million would be given to the newly-formed Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company.
The new company will unlock investment totalling some £1.6 billion and help to provide up to 21,000 new jobs and some 10,000 homes in some of the most deprived parts of South East Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.
More than 2,000 acres of derelict and contaminated land will be brought back into use in the next 25 years. However, the Gateway, which is a partnership between the Scottish Executive, Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, the Scottish Enterprise Network and Communities Scotland, has announced that 500 acres will be regenerated in the next five years.
South Lanarkshire Council Leader, Councillor Eddie McAvoy, said:
"The Clyde Gateway is a project we are extremely proud to be involved in and it is something that people in South Lanarkshire, Glasgow and beyond will benefit from for many years to come.
"The huge level of investment over such a long period of time will transform the whole area, bringing with it substantial social and economic benefits for thousands of people."
Councillor George Redmond, the Chair of Clyde Gateway, said:
"We are transforming what was one of the most deprived areas in Scotland into a thriving community, with thousands of new jobs and homes.
"We can already see the results in areas such as Oatlands, where damp and decaying tenements have made way for a mixture of high quality private and social rented accommodation.
"This is the future for homes in Glasgow and I'm delighted to be driving forward this crucial part of the city's regeneration jigsaw."
The £83 million represents the Affordable Housing Investment Programme investment in Galsgow for 2007-08. It is a 14 per cent increase on last year's allocation of £70.7 million
Glasgow's Housing Development Programme has four key priorities, which include:
- Neighbourhood Renewal: Rebuilding communities and creating attractive places for people to live, linked with GHA's demolition and clearance programme
- Balancing Supply & Demand: Increasing choice by improving the supply of affordable public and private sector housing through shared ownership schemes such as Homestake
- Housing Quality: Creating homes which are energy efficient and surpass the Scottish Housing Quality Standard - which in turn will make Glasgow a much more attractive location for both young professionals and growing families
- Responding to Changing Needs: Working to provide homes which will allow previously homeless people to live independently, free from hostel accommodation and building homes which are adapted for disabled tenants and those with special needs
The Clyde Corridor, including the Clyde Gateway project, is the Executive's national regeneration priority. The Gateway is one of Scotland's biggest regeneration projects and is also the site of Glasgow's 2014 bid to host the Commonwealth Games.
Transformation of the Clyde Gateway stands to bring massive benefits to the city region and also the national economy, maximising the opportunities brought by the M74 extension and East End Regeneration Route, bringing substantial resources of land back into economic use and bringing new jobs and housing, retail and leisure to the existing communities of the east end of Glasgow and wider Gateway area.