The Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) have supported the development of 31 new affordable homes in Airdrie as part of North Lanarkshire Council's re-provisioning programme.

The site was previously occupied with 28 flats that were no longer meeting the needs of the community, these were demolished to make way for this development. The housing site built by Hadden Group comprises a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom family homes with 3 properties suitable for wheelchair users.

All of the homes have been designed and built incorporating the highest energy efficiency measures. The new homes feature roof-mounted solar panels, EV charging points and a 'fabric first' approach to the construction of the homes. These measures will offer greater security to minimise energy bills and support the Scottish Government's net zero agenda.

The homes meet Housing for Varying Needs design standards which sets out good practice on the design of housing to accommodate people of all abilities. People have various housing needs which alter throughout their lifetime. The built form of this housing development means that the housing should be flexible enough to accommodate a range of these needs.

As part of the project, Hadden delivered several community benefits which included a Meet the Buyer event for supply chain engagement, creation of local jobs, employability support and careers engagement with local schools.

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The Council frequently use SPA's solutions to support their plans to upgrade existing buildings and bring high quality homes to the area of North Lanarkshire. The depth and quality of suppliers available with the flexibility of being able to select an award method and terms make it an appealing option for them.

For this project, North Lanarkshire Council used the H1 New Build Housing framework which has since been replaced by H2 New Build Housing Construction. The H2 framework supports public sector organisations to source a range of experts that are capable of delivering a vast array of different housing types from low, medium, high rise, traditional housing, care homes, and mixed use sites alongside supporting associated works such as conversion, groundworks and demolition. It also allows for development agreements and land purchases to be conducted.

In addition to the procurement solutions SPA provides, all public sector organisations have free and unlimited access to SPA's Added Value Services programme which has been developed to drive efficiencies and assist partners in making clear and informed decisions that benefit their individual projects. The programme extends across all aspects of technical, procurement, social value and client support. It encompasses a wide range of valuable guidance and support from providing price verifications and reviewing technical specifications, to offering assistance calling off from the framework and sharing advice on suitable community benefits for individual projects.

James Stevenson, Housing Development Manager from North Lanarkshire Council, said: "The completion of these 31 affordable homes in Airdrie marks a further step in delivering our ambitious new supply programme which aims to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2035. SPA is assisting us with realising this vision and has already supported us with the delivery of 202 homes with a further 268 homes in the pipeline. Their range of frameworks and expert guidance have been beneficial in ensuring high-quality, sustainable housing for our communities. These frameworks are a valuable tool for local authorities like ourselves to bring much-needed affordable housing and other key attributes to communities."

Stephen Lynas, Preconstruction & Business Development Director, Hadden Group, added: "We're pleased to mark the successful delivery of our third project with North Lanarkshire's new council house building team. These new homes have been developed to a very high standard and I'm sure the new tenants will enjoy living here and taking advantage of lower energy bills due to their energy efficient construction."