More than £35 million is being invested in South Ayrshire to boost the supply of 'affordable' housing across the region.

The funding will be added onto monies already available to support housebuilding as detailed in the Council's Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), which aims to deliver 600 properties over the next five years.

The Government funding will be split as follows;

• 2018/19 – £10.503 million

• 2019/20 – £11.883 million

• 2020/21 – £12.678 million

Work will begin on reviewing the proposed programme in response to the increased funding, with an updated SHIP to be submitted to the Scottish Government by the end of October.

-- Advertisement --

Cllr Philip Saxton said: "We're committed to ensuring our communities have access to high-quality, warm, attractive and efficient homes and this funding will make a real difference in helping achieve that.

"Over the last 6 years, we have built 233 new Council homes across South Ayrshire – including our biggest ever house-building project of 102 new homes at Lochside in Ayr – and it's incredible to see the impact these are having on improving people's lives.

"For instance, our most recent development of 29 amenity bungalows, which provide innovative and flexible living space to meet the needs of ageing households, is just one great example of what we can do to provide the kind of homes our communities want and need.

"This Council is committed to extending these benefits as widely as possibly by building 600 new affordable homes for social rent over the next five years, and the increase in the available funding – which had been expected to be around £7 million per year – will go a long way to helping us deliver on that ambition.

"By building more affordable homes in this way, we will ensure our residents can live in  vibrant, inclusive and attractive communities and can enjoy the best quality of life possible."

(LM/MH)