Cash will be used to develop and improve Glasgow housing
A massive boost for affordable housing in Glasgow has been announced after a landmark deal pledged £185m to build and improve the city’s social housing.
Wheatley Group, the organisation behind Glasgow Housing Association, will receive the cash from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help build and improve thousands of affordable homes across Scotland.
It takes the amount of funding raised by Wheatley in the past four years to £800m and comes in the week the group was confirmed – for the second year running – as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes.
Wheatley is currently developing 7,500 affordable new homes from Balloch and Dumbarton through Glasgow, West Lothian and Edinburgh to North Berwick.
The landmark deal was announced by EIB vice president Jonathan Taylor at a community event attended by first minister Nicola Sturgeon along with local politicians and business, community and social housing leaders.
The EIB loan, by far the largest of its type made in Scotland, is linked to a commitment by Wheatley to invest £400m over the next three years in affordable housing.
Wheatley chair Alastair MacNish said: “This loan is fantastic news for people and families across Scotland and is a huge vote of confidence in Wheatley and our unyielding commitment to affordable housing.
“It will help us to consolidate our position as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes, which we hold close as a badge of honour at a time when the availability and supply of affordable housing is such an acute priority.”
Speaking at the announcement at the Reidvale Neighbourhood Centre in Glasgow, where GHA is building 143 homes, Jonathan Taylor, EIB Vice President, said: “This week’s visit to Glasgow provides a valuable opportunity to see how upgrading existing properties and construction of new social housing will improve lives, create skilled jobs, benefit local suppliers and cut heating bills in homes for hundreds of families.”
It will help us to consolidate our position as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes - Alastair MacNish
The new £185m loan, along with future investments, will enable Wheatley to maintain a building programme of around 650 homes a year from 2021 to early 2025.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Ensuring people have access to quality housing is a fundamental part of building a fair and equal society. That is why we have committed to deliver at least 50,000 new affordable homes in the five years to 2021.”
Martin Armstrong, Wheatley chief executive, said: “The EIB loan enables us to expand our ambitious building programme further in support of Scottish Government’s More Homes Scotland agenda.
“But it is about so much more than simply bricks and mortar. Wheatley’s mission is to make lives, not just homes, better. This wonderful investment by EIB will enable us to do just that.”
Over the last decade, the European Investment Bank has provided more than £4 billion for transport, education, social housing, transport, water, energy, urban regeneration and new hospital investment across the Scotland, with additional investment from UK wide programmes.
