North Lanarkshire Council has announced that it will build a further 1000 council houses as part of its biggest investment in council housing for a generation.

It will add a further 1,000 houses to its current programme with a £159 million spend, bringing the total number of council houses to be built in the next decade to 1,800 and the total programmes to 2,150, 633 of which have already started construction.

The convener of housing and social work services, Councillor Barry McCulloch, said that this is a huge investment for the people of North Lanarkshire.

McCulloch continued: “As Scotland’s biggest council landlord we understand that modern, accessible housing is a key priority and I’m delighted we will be able to deliver 1,800 new houses by 2026.

“We already had an extensive new-build programme in place, but we are determined to do what we can to meet considerable need. The quality of our new houses is unbelievable. They are energy-efficient, accessible and adaptable, which means the needs of people can really be taken into account.”

He also said that it means the council can deliver a wide range of housing, including housing for young people, disabled people and old people.

A committee report outlined the criteria for the sites of the 1,000 additional homes, which will partly be paid for with the assistance of Scottish Government grant funding.

The recommendations were the result of months of work by a member/officer group chaired by Councillor Peter Sullivan. He said: “New council houses are badly needed but we had to work hard to identify the best and fairest way to deliver these in the current financial climate.

Sullivan added that access to affordable, high quality housing is one of their top priorities and this programme, the biggest in a generation, will go some way to meeting housing demand.