£280 million spent on Glasgow regeneration areas in five years

Around £280 million has already been spent transforming large areas of vacant derelict land in Glasgow into new housing developments in the past five years.

Transforming Communities, a partnership between Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Housing Association and the Scottish Government, has delivered 1,154 new mixed tenure homes and refurbished 138 mid-market homes for rent.

The eight Transformational Regeneration Areas (TRAs) are based in East Govan / Ibrox, Gallowgate, Laurieston, Maryhill, North Toryglen, Pollokshaws, Red Road / Barmulloch and Sighthill. The latter is the biggest urban regeneration project in the UK outside of London.

The construction work carried out so far has delivered community benefit opportunities for local people, including 58 apprenticeships; 69 work experience placements; 95 new entrants; and 72 trainees.

Many of the new housing developments in the TRAs have won industry recognition for the quality of their design, construction and environmental improvement, with 20 awards and a further 20 nominations.

By the end of the financial year 2021/22, a further 2,963 homes are planned in the TRAs, with 473 for social rent; 369 for mid-market rent; and 2,121 for private sale.

Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm at Glasgow City Council, said: “The work that has been taking place through the Transforming Communities: Glasgow partnership has brought real improvement to these eight areas in the city, with fantastic, award-winning, new homes for social rent, mid-market rent and the private market. We can look forward to even more homes being built in the years to come, transforming people’s lives and helping to regenerate communities all across Glasgow.”

Bernadette Hewitt, chair of Glasgow Housing Association, said: “GHA is delighted to be working in partnership with Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government to help regenerate these eight priority areas of the city. Local communities have played a major part over the past five years in shaping the plans for their areas and in overseeing the regeneration. We look forward to working closely with many more people as we build further on what has been achieved so far.”

Housing and Local Government Minister Kevin Stewart said: “I’m delighted that the Transforming Communities: Glasgow partnership has, so far, developed 1154 new homes and refurbished 138 homes for use in eight areas across Glasgow, including the biggest urban regeneration project outside London in Sighthill. Transforming Communities: Glasgow is about more than just constructing new and refurbished housing developments, many of them award-winning, it has also made a positive impact on these local communities through creating apprenticeships, training opportunities and Local Delivery Groups. We are committed to working with our partners to deliver high quality housing for people and families across Scotland and will support local authorities and the industry to deliver their housing priorities.”

Homes built by TC:G in Glasgow’s TRAs are intended to be built to Greener Homes standard, resulting in lower carbon emissions and lower than average heating bills.

Transforming Communities: Glasgow has a final target of delivering 5,000 mixed tenure new homes, with this housing built on 140 hectares through investment of £665million in the eight TRAs.