Digging in for luxury living

Jul 26 2008 by Gavin McInally, Paisley Daily Express

FAMILIES living in crumbling flats can now look forward to moving into dream homes after work started on an amazing £25million housing development.

A ground-cutting ceremony marked the beginning of the construction work at land between Erskinefauld Road and Brediland Road, opposite Linwood Sports Centre.

In total, 190 new homes – with front and back gardens – will be created for council tenants currently living in old blocks of flats in the town and families on the housing waiting list.

The development is being run in partnership between Renfrewshire Council, Sanctuary Scotland Housing Association and the Scottish Government.

The new houses will replace 23 blocks of flats in Cowal Drive, Clippens Road, Erskinefauld Road and Brediland Road as part of the council’s drive to regenerate the area.

Councillor Brian Lawson, convener of Renfrewshire’s housing board, said: “This multi-million pound partnership is delivering brand new homes for Linwood people.

“These houses are a major step forward from the flats that they replace and are a key part of our long-term strategy to regenerate Linwood.”

Ken Gibb, chairperson of Sanctuary Scotland Housing Association, added: “We are delighted to have reached this stage in this important project and are looking forward to working with our partners and the Linwood community to provide high quality new homes for local residents.”

Renfrewshire Council handed over almost six hectares of land for the new development, with £10million worth of funding coming from Sanctuary Scotland and £14.7million from the Scottish Government.

A council spokesman added: “The council has 100 per cent nomination rights over the new homes. The tenants will be the former residents of the demolished council flats and people from the council’s housing waiting list.

“A proportion of the homes will also be provided on a shared equity basis for owners of the flats to be demolished where the resident and the housing association jointly own the property, usually with a 70/30 per cent or 80/20 per cent split.”

Stewart Maxwell, Communities and Sport Minister, said the development is a “significant and positive step for the regeneration of Linwood.”

He added: “It will make a massive difference to the area. Increasing the supply of housing across all tenures of the right type, at the right price and in the right location, is a top priority for the Scottish Government and these brand new homes are another step towards our target of building at least 35,000 homes per year by the middle of the next decade.”

The first phase of the new development is due to be finished in March 2009, with all of the 190 homes being completed by December 2010.