East Ayrshire Council to build 600 new homes as part of a £131m investment in housing

Houses: Picture credit: PA

East Ayrshire Council has announced it will build 600 new council homes and make improvement to hundreds more, as part of a £131m investment.

Earlier this year, the council approved almost £500m of funding in the area through its capital investment programme and the new housing programme will be in addition to these commitments.

RELATED CONTENT

UK Government delays housing benefit cap for supported housing​

North Lanarkshire to build 1,000 council houses

Councillor Eoghann MacColl, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: “We’ve almost 13,000 tenants and we want to ensure that we provide sustainable and quality homes that meet their future aspirations.

“We’re seeing how successful community led action plans are in delivering improvements at the heart of the community and it makes perfect sense that housing is part of this positive and ongoing process.

“One of the main changes will be to develop the housing programme in tandem with building strong, resilient, safe and vibrant communities.

“Over the next five years, six hundred new homes will be built in East Ayrshire and hundreds more improved, as we embark on this exciting and ambitious £131 million programme of refreshing and renewing our housing.”

MacColl said the council is particularly “keen to address is the number of empty properties on our books”, adding that these homes cost on average £2m each year in lost rent.

He added: “In addition, we have some 200 homes where we can make significant improvements and we’ll be working with tenants there to offer alternative accommodation while improvements are made, or if new homes are to be built.”