Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) has confirmed that the blueprint for its future has been given the formal support of the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council.

This now paves the way for GHA to take forward its plans to bring the organisation closer to its tenants, its communities and its partners.

The formal declarations of support by key stakeholders were noted and welcomed by the GHA Board at a Special Meeting.

The plans for a new-look GHA, the result of an independent review carried out last year by the Financial Information Company, follow consultation with tenant representatives and stakeholders.

They will see more control over housing services and budgets devolved to up to five area committees. These will be led by tenants and be aligned to the city’s Strategic Planning areas.

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GHA Board Chair Sandra Forsythe said: "We are delighted to have the support of the Scottish Government and City Council, and that the Scottish Housing Regulator has been assured by recent developments and the effective working relationships we have established with our key stakeholders.

"The next important step is for tenants to be involved again in the detail of how these plans should be implemented."

GHA will also undertake an organisational review to ensure staffing matches the new structure. The key aim will be to strengthen frontline services, while de-centralising several head-office functions.

GHA Chief Executive Martin Armstrong said: "We are looking forward to working with our tenants and stakeholders to create a new GHA that is closer to its communities, closer to its customers and closer to its partners.

"We will have more staff on the frontline, dealing directly with tenants and our factored homeowners, and although GHA will be a smaller and more locally-focused organisation, it will still have the size and scale to continue the major improvement and regeneration programme across the city."

The blueprint for GHA's future also includes a renewed focus to transfer a significant number of homes to community-based housing associations, a process known as Second Stage Transfer (SST). The current SST programme - through to March, next year - involves over 16,000 homes. GHA has already transferred around 2000 homes.

(GK)