Glasgow City Council has agreed to share ownership of its construction business City Building Glasgow with Wheatley Group in a 50/50 joint venture worth £3.7 billion.

The partnership between Scotland’s largest council and the country’s biggest social landlord will secure thousands of local jobs over the next 30 years.

Under the deal, City Building will undertake all repair work for Wheatley’s social landlords in the west of Scotland including Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).

As well as securing 2,000 jobs and more than 2,000 apprenticeships over the next three decades, the joint venture will also sustain employment for disabled workers at City Building, which has returned over £50 million to the council since it was established 10 years ago.

Councillor Frank McAveety, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “This is the biggest deal of its kind in the UK. When the joint venture was originally proposed, it was valued at £2.7bn over the next 30 years, however significant additional value has been identified as the detailed business planning has been undertaken and refined, with an additional £1bn of value created.

“A range of other significant opportunities have been identified in the expanded business plan – for example, RSBi, City Building’s specialist manufacturing division, which employs more than 260 local people, around half with disabilities, will undertake a range of additional work for Wheatley Group subsidiaries. Importantly, the JV will also invest £180m in training its people and improving skills over the 30-year period.

“The positive impact on our communities and on the wider Glasgow economy will be enormous. Securing 2,000 jobs and 2,000 apprentices is a fantastic legacy for the people of Glasgow, not to mention the thousands of tenants of Glasgow Housing Association who will enjoy an industry-leading range of services for many years to come.”

A shadow board will now be created and work will start on formally establishing the new 50/50 JV from 1st January 2017.