Council tenants, elderly and vulnerable residents in South Ayrshire may soon benefit from the first Council house building programme for more than 30 years.

Agreed at a special meeting of South Ayrshire Council today, the proposed new Council houses form part of the Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) which aims to provide almost 500 additional houses for rent between 2010 and 2015, to be undertaken by the Council and local Housing Associations.

The plan will now be submitted to the Scottish Government, who provide the funding for social housing via the Affordable Housing Investment Programme.

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If the Council's full bid for funding is successful, a total of 68 new Council houses would be built in the North Ayr area.

In addition, building work is already scheduled for 61 new houses in South Ayrshire, in 2010/11 in conjunction with local housing associations, with a further 90 the following year.

Additional developments are also planned for Fisherton, Girvan, Ayr and Prestwick as part of the five year plan.

Commenting on the SHIP and the bid for additional money, Councillor Douglas Campbell, Portfolio Holder for Housing said: "The SHIP sets out how we intend to start increasing the availability of houses to rent across South Ayrshire.

"We know there is more be done to deliver the number of houses we need across the area. This needs to be balanced against the reality of what we can achieve in the present economic climate, given some of the financial constraints and pressures we face.

"In the course of the coming five years, we will continue to explore every opportunity to develop and build houses to rent for those most in need, but SHIP marks the first very positive step towards that goal."

Cllr Campbell said they will "most likely" know in December if the proposals are successful.

(GK/BMcC)