22.11.19
East Ayrshire Council plans for £175m investment in housing
East Ayrshire Council has revealed plans to invest £175m in housing over the next 5 years.
The Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) sets out how East Ayrshire Council will spend approximately £88 million to help fulfill the Scottish Government’s plan of building 50,000 affordable homes by 2021.
The programme targets different areas of East Ayrshire throughout the five years that it is ongoing. These include, 390 new homes in year one, 277 in year two, 166 in year three, 84 in year four and 68 in year five.
Empty homes are also going to be returned to the effective housing stock, meaning that new homes are quickly available without the need to build them.
Katie Kelly, Depute Chief Executive, Safer Communities said:
“Our housing plans are about much more than just the fabric of the buildings. We want to create communities which are safe and secure and the SHIP complements the work already underway across Community Planning partners and communities to help sustain East Ayrshire’s communities.”
“We’ve been working in partnership with CCG on these developments and we’ve seen a significant number of community benefits – we’ve appointed 10 new starts, created 7 new apprentices and implemented 7 work placements. And CCG has distributed £40,000 to community groups where local engagement events have been held with CCG and Vibrant Communities.”
£86m will also be put into making sure that current social housing is up to standard, including the removal of asbestos, the replacing of old windows and doors ad general modernisation.
As well as investment in housing from 2020 through to 2025, the properties will also be maintained to make sure that they not only meet Scottish Housing Quality Standards, but also Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.