South Lanarkshire Council has published its Local Housing Strategy 2017-2022 which sets out the priority actions and outcomes that aims to improve the quality, range and access to good quality affordable housing across the region.

The long-term plan was launched to coincide with Scottish Housing Day which took place last week to raise awareness of the fundamental contribution which good housing makes to people’s lives and the options available to people when deciding where to live.

Councillor Josh Wilson, chair of housing and technical resources, said: “Our new, five-year strategy, Affordable Homes, Sustainable Places, puts people right at the heart of our approach to housing.

“Although there is a good supply of housing to meet needs within the area, not everyone lives in an ideal situation and their needs change over the years.

“In developing the Strategy, we spoke to a wide range of people to assess the housing situation across South Lanarkshire and look at how we can meet demand and improve the quality of housing.

“This gives us a clear structure for what we believe we need to do and the best way to deliver the outcomes the Strategy seeks to achieve.”

Affordable Homes, Sustainable Places is published online and can be viewed and downloaded at www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk.

Housing services staff also supported Scottish Housing Day across South Lanarkshire through organising a series of charity fund-raising activities to benefit local foodbanks.

Head of housing services, Annette Finnan, said: “I want to thank all Housing Services staff for their efforts and generosity in raising money for a very worthy local cause.

“Scottish Housing Day is an important opportunity to raise awareness of housing issues and show the importance of housing that contributes towards building successful and sustainable places.

“However, this fund-raising reminds us of the fundamental truth behind housing – the reason behind all we do is not the buildings themselves, but the people within them.”