City to build first council homes in nearly 20 years

NEW council homes are set to be built in Edinburgh for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The proposals mark a major shift in the city council's housing policy, and would see the creation of 1100 new homes for sale or rent.

The properties would be built in Pennywell, north Sighthill and Gracemount.

Council chiefs today said the plans are their response to the credit crunch, and will include help for homebuyers. Around 50 per cent of the homes would be for sale, which would bring in money to cover the costs of building rental properties.

Some of the funding would also come from a Scottish Government £25 million package unveiled earlier this year to encourage the building of new council houses across Scotland.

The Capital faces a major housing shortage and needs to deliver 12,000 new affordable homes over the next ten years.

Last year Midlothian became the first Scottish local authority to build council houses since the early 1990s.

Edinburgh's proposals will be put before councillors next month, and if approved, a feasibility study will be completed by March 2009.

Councillor Paul Edie, the city's housing leader, said: "I am really pleased to announce that we aim to build the first new council housing in Edinburgh for nearly 20 years.

"This is the first time in a generation that the council has considered building homes which marks a major shift in strategy and defining council housing in the 21st century.

"I hope the people of Edinburgh will be reassured that their council is responding to the obvious difficulties many of them face in finding a home."

SNP councillor Norman Work, chairman of the Edinburgh Homelessness Forum, added: "We are reinventing how council housing is managed and making changes to tackle the housing crisis head-on. Most importantly we are providing Edinburgh with homes that are badly needed."

The areas earmarked for the building project are all set to undergo major regeneration in the coming years.

Until now, if any council homes were demolished, tenants were re-housed in the local authority's existing stock or in housing association properties.

Through the council's current affordable housing investment policy, around 500 new homes are delivered each year, but these are restricted to registered social landlords.

Meanwhile, the controversial right-to-buy policy has eroded the city's social housing stock over the years, and is partly responsible for the current crisis of affordable housing.

Since 1997, almost 6000 council tenants have used the scheme to take their first step on to the property ladder.

Betty Stevenson, convener of Edinburgh Tenants Federation, said today: "The federation very much welcomes the prospect of building council housing in Edinburgh once again.

"This is something the federation has sought for a very long time. In the present housing crisis, new council housing is desperately needed.

"We look forward to learning the details about what would be involved in making this happen."