Ambitious housing plan unveiled for South Lanarkshire

The council’s Executive Committee has approved the South Lanarkshire Local Housing Strategy 2022-27, which sets out the need for an additional 5000 homes over the next five years.

At the same meeting, ambitious plans were revealed for 1300 more council homes.

The target has been set for the number of homes to be built and bought by South Lanarkshire Council by the end of March 2027, and it follows an earlier programme of 1000 additional homes between 2017 and 2022/23.

The Local Housing Strategy is renewed every five years and outlines the council’s plans and targets for housing across the council area, and includes a number of key aims.

These include increasing the supply of affordable housing, investing in existing housing, exploring options for developing district heating systems and low-carbon energy-supply projects and considering opportunities for promoting active travel within existing and new housing developments.

It also seeks to improve access to housing for armed forces veterans, refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of domestic abuse and people leaving prison as well as looking to work with services and partners to support children and young people affected by homelessness.

By law, the Local Housing Strategy must set targets for the provision of new affordable and private housing across South Lanarkshire, and the new strategy aims for an average of between 950 and 1050 new homes to be built each year, with 250 to 300 of those being affordable housing.

Councillor Davie McLachlan, housing and technical resources chairman, said: “This additional housing is essential and will be a huge boost to South Lanarkshire over the coming years.

“The other aims of the strategy are just as important and it is wonderful to see the emphasis on helping people in need, as well as improving the stock we have for our existing tenants, because it is important to remember that the most important part of housing is the people in it.

“At the same time, we must always be conscious of the environment and our effect on it and I am delighted to see several aspects of the strategy addressing this. Overall, this is a Local Housing strategy that seeks to improve life for people across South Lanarkshire and benefit the world we live in, and I look forward to seeing it unfold over the coming years.”

Ambitious plans have also been revealed for 1300 more council homes.

The target has been set for the number of homes to be built and bought by South Lanarkshire Council by the end of March 2027.

Council Leader Joe Fagan said the new five-year target was even more ambitious than the last one.

He said: “The cost-of-living crisis and financial pressures on ordinary people right now are making the need for affordable housing even more starkly clear.

“These plans show how serious the council is about helping people by being unashamedly ambitious about our plans. This target is being set to show how determined we are to deliver on the promises we made that we would create more council homes.”