South Lanarkshire Council has announced a housing investment of more than £50 million during 2022/23.

The investment includes close to £20million on new council housing, £10million on external fabric upgrading works, £4million on environmental improvements, more than £2million on energy efficiency works and more than £6million on central heating improvements.

The investment in external fabric upgrading works and environmental improvements are both more than double the amount invested over the course of this financial year.

Agreement on the investment was reached at a special meeting of the Housing and Technical Resources Committee, with the proposals now set to be decided at the Executive Committee and full Council meetings taking place in February.

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A rent increase of 2.2% was also agreed, which will come into effect from 1 April 2022.

This followed an extensive consultation process with tenants, and recent reports have noted that the council's average rent is the lowest of any of the South Lanarkshire social landlords and the seventh lowest among Scottish local authority landlords.

In accordance with tenants' wishes and to reflect Covid-related uncertainty, the rent rise is only for one year (2022-23) rather than being set for more than one year as normally done.

Chair of the Housing and Technical Resources Committee, Councillor Josh Wilson, said: "I believe that the housing budget for 2022/23 strongly confirms the council's commitment to providing new, high-quality homes for residents while also ensuring our current homes are also maintained to high standards."

Executive Director of Housing and Technical Resources, Daniel Lowe, said: "Both the Budget Scrutiny Group and Tenant Participation and Co-ordination Group understood the council's position with regards the rent increase and felt that 2.2% provided good value for tenants while allowing continued investment, particularly in the current economic climate.

"They also concluded that the proposed increase of 2.2% is fair and ensures that rents remain affordable for most tenants."