South Lanarkshire Council’s new Home+ housebuilding programme took another leap forward last week with the start of construction on the site of a school site in Hamilton.

A total of 24 two, three and four bedroom semi-detached homes and two bedroom cottage flats, constructed to meet Silver Standard energy efficiency levels, are being built on the site of the former St Peter’s Primary School at Highstonehall Road.

The project has been designed in-house by South Lanarkshire Council and is supported by Scottish Government funding.

At a sod cutting event held on site to celebrate the start of construction, Councillor Josh Wilson, chair of the housing and technical resources committee, said: “This latest phase of our Home+ programme brings much needed additional high quality homes to the area.

“This project together with our recently approved developments in Blantyre and our flats conversion underway on Almada Street puts us on course to deliver 68 new council homes in the Hamilton and Blantyre area by Autumn 2018 contributing to our target of 1000 new council homes across South Lanarkshire by 2021.”

Daniel Lowe, executive director of housing, said: “Our Home+ programme continues to go from strength to strength and again demonstrates South Lanarkshire’s continuing commitment to meeting key priorities in our Local Housing Strategy including increasing the supply of affordable housing, tackling fuel poverty and promoting sustainable communities.

“These new homes have been designed with generous space standards, high quality kitchens and bathrooms and incorporate renewable technologies such as solar panels to deliver cheaper to run, energy efficient homes benefiting both the environment and household budgets.”

The development at Highstonehall Road is being constructed for South Lanarkshire Council by Cruden Building and Renewals.

Partnering and procurement director, Gordon Lee, said: “We are delighted to continue our strong working relationship with South Lanarkshire Council as we deliver this exciting new landmark development in Hamilton.

“Throughout this project we will work closely with local suppliers to directly benefit this community. We will also provide work placement and training opportunities to give young people first-hand experience of the varied roles available within the construction industry.”