North Glasgow's £30million reasons to be cheerful » Housing » 24dash.com

NORTH Glasgow Housing Associations latest affordable housing development in Springburn is now complete marking a five-year investment of over £30million.

More than 40 families have been given the keys to their new homes in the £5.7million Elmvale Phase One development, which was finished three months ahead of schedule by Campbell Construction Group.

The new homes, which include a mix of three and four apartment family homes and homes for people with special needs, replace poor quality tenements in Hawthorn Street, Blackthorn Street and Hickory Street.

Completion of Elmvale Phase One means the Association has built 275 new homes in five developments since 2003 alone. They are just the latest part of the Associations new build programme. Just over £30million has been invested creating the new communities in Springburn and Possilpark.

Chief Executive of North Glasgow Housing Association, Robert Tamburrini, said: Investment in housing is not just about building homes, it is about giving people living in our communities new opportunities.

Elmvale Phase One is the latest piece of the jigsaw, with more than 40 families given keys to their new homes.

Communities across North Glasgow have been transformed with new and improved housing and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure that even more tenants benefit in the future.

Some of the new homes were allocated to tenants of neighbouring Balmore Housing. Chairperson, John Fury, said: The change in communities across North Glasgow is there for everyone to see.

New homes such as the ones built in Elmvale are making a significant difference to peoples lives and the local area as a whole a real and lasting contribution to North Glasgows long-term regeneration.

Since 2003 the Association has transformed housing in Springburn and Possilpark through five new developments.

In 2004 the first tenants moved into the 102-home North Possil Phase Four development a £9.5million regeneration programme that re-housed tenants who previously lived in poor quality tenements in the local area.

A further £3.3million was spent building 23 family homes in Viewpoint Road in Springburn, while at East Keppoch Phase Three 44 new homes were built in a £5.3million project.

Last year saw the completion of one of the Associations largest new build projects, when 65 tenants moved into new homes in Mireton Street, helping change the face of housing in Possilpark in the process.

And in recent weeks work to build 41 homes at Elmvale Phase One in Springburn was completed. It takes the number of new homes built by the Association to 275 in less than five years.

Chairperson, Pat Kenna, said: Good quality housing can make a real difference to the lives of tenants and in the last five years more than 250 families will have felt the benefits of new homes provided by the Association.

We are serious about the creation of sustainable communities and at the heart of any community are people. So while we are building new homes we are also looking at wider ways in which we can enhance the lives of our tenants.

Thanks to our new build programme we have come a long way in the past five years but we know there is still work to be done in the future.

We are continually looking for development opportunities so that we can deliver further housing improvements for our communities.

The new build programme is funded by a mix of Housing Association Grants allocated by the Government and loans taken out by the Association.