Report highlights continued benefits of housing investment in North Lanarkshire
Progress at a council housing development in Gowkthrapple
A report into North Lanarkshire Council’s housing strategy has highlighted investment of £34 million to improve the quality of homes, £15m in benefits generated for tenants by housing income maximisers and delivering 539 new build homes – an increase of 150 in the previous year.
The council’s Local Housing Strategy (2021/26) outlines its vision for housing and housing services across communities and details of this year’s progress were highlighted at a recent Housing Committee.
The five-year housing plan highlights the council’s ambitions to transform and regenerate communities, reduce inequality and disadvantage and create opportunities for people across the area. It covers areas including housing delivery, homelessness, property condition, energy efficiency, fuel poverty, health and wellbeing and older people’s and specialist housing.
Key areas of progress in 2022/23 include:
- Over 3,500 energy efficiency measures installed in 2022/23. These include external wall insulation, triple-glazed windows, energy-efficient heating and solar panels, and we’ve £30m planned investment earmarked for 2023/24.
- Phase 1 of our ambitious re-provisioning programme is nearing completion with 1,656 out of 1,750 properties vacated and 831 demolished/in process of being demolished.
- 97 new homes have been delivered to the re-provisioning site at Dykehead Road, Airdrie.
- Delivery of our first new-zero homes at Dykehead Road, Airdrie, which feature several low carbon technologies including air-source heat pumps, battery storage, enhanced solar PV arrays and enhanced insulation.
- Welcoming our 1000th tenant to move into one of our new build council homes
- Investment of more than £34m to improve the quality of our homes in the past year, including £19.1m on roof and render, £5.3m on heating upgrades, £1.1 on renewable energies, £7.8m on kitchens and bathrooms and £1.4m on home safety and security.
- 35 long-term empty properties brought back into use for our tenants.
- 34 wheelchair-live homes delivered.
Housing convener, Councillor Michael McPake, said: “Our action plan contains over 150 separate milestones ranging from building new homes and investing in our current housing stock, to tackling fuel poverty by delivering energy efficiency measures and providing financial support and tackling empty homes to regenerate communities. We’re making significant progress in delivering on these actions and continue to review progress.
“These actions support our vision of making North Lanarkshire the place to live by providing high-quality housing and supporting sustainable communities, to enable people to thrive and prosper.”
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