Nearly 700 new 'affordable' homes are to be built over the next five years in East Renfrewshire.

The 693 social housing units will be delivered as part of the council's Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), which sets out development across the region up from 2018/19 to 2022/23.

The new homes will be delivered over two phases; 544 planned in the first three years, with the remaining 149 properties to be built in in years four and five. Around 10% of the units will be made suitable for specific requirements, such as for the elderly or wheelchair users.

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Construction on the first sites will get underway in early 2018, with homes set to be available in late 2018. This first phase of construction includes sites at Robertson Street and Fenwick Drive in Barrhead, followed by a third site at Blackbyres Court, Barrhead.

Cllr Danny Devlin said: "I am delighted that we have been able to commit to providing almost 700 additional social housing units through our SHIP. We are absolutely committed to providing great quality homes for our residents and this investment will ensure we continue to deliver.

"In addition to our SHIP we're also planning improvements in how we let our homes through our proposed Homeseeker service, which will make the process easier and more transparent. It is fantastic to see such investment in developing our housing stock, in particular our ambitious house building programme, and I look forward to seeing how this work progresses over the coming months."

(LM)