Glasgow City Council has approved a five-year housing strategy aimed at delivering almost 6,400 new affordable homes across the city.

The Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), signed off today (6 November), identifies 165 sites for development and is designed to address homelessness, reduce reliance on temporary accommodation, and support families and children affected by poverty. The programme will also help meet the needs of the city's growing and ageing population.

The majority of the homes will be made available for social rent. Alongside new build developments, the council plans to purchase 550 private properties, which will also be converted for social rental use.

The local authority will now submit the plan to the Scottish Government, alongside a request for £890 million in grant funding to support delivery of the programme.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Convener for Housing, Development and Land Use at Glasgow City Council, said: "We will continue to work with our colleagues across the housing sector to make sure that as many new and high-quality affordable homes as possible are built in Glasgow over the next five years and are ready to accelerate this programme if new resources and investment become available."

The Glasgow SHIP - a key part of the evidence base used to determine the resources need to meet housing needs - was prepared in the context of the city's housing emergency, declared in November 2023. It sets out:

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• A summary of the housing and homelessness pressures that Glasgow is experiencing;

• A delivery plan that outlines details of affordable housing development projects and housing led regeneration area priorities;

• The potential to support for Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to acquire private sector properties that meet strategic priorities and can be used to provide housing for homeless households; and

• Investment priorities including the need to increase the supply of larger family housing (four or more bedrooms) and housing that meets the social care needs of the city's residents, including wheelchair adaptable homes and older households.

The development of the SHIP was informed by the council's engagement with housing associations, Glasgow's Health and Social Care Partnership, and the construction sector to consider the issues, challenges, constraints and opportunities around investment in and delivery of affordable housing.

The investment priorities of the Glasgow SHIP are:

• Increasing the supply of affordable family housing

• Reducing homelessness and the number of households currently living in emergency/temporary accommodation

• Contributing towards reducing the number of children living in poverty

• Supporting refugee households living in Glasgow

• Responding to pressures that are being experienced across the city's private rented sector market including a reduction in letting activity and an increase in the cost of rents

• Meeting the forecast changes to the demographics of Glasgow's population including a projected 22.3% increase in the number of people who will be aged 65 years and older by 2034

• Health and social care (for example, meeting the housing needs of people with disabilities, complex health needs and young people leaving care).

In order to meet particular housing needs, including the need for larger family homes, the SHIP sets specific priorities for new housing development within the city's Affordable Housing Supply Programme - with 10% of all new homes in developments of 20 units and above required to be wheelchair readily adaptable, and the delivery of 40 new large family homes (four or more bedrooms for six or more persons) as well as an increased delivery of three bedroom homes.

It is expected that of the 6,661 approvals of social homes estimated to be approved in Glasgow over the 2026/27 - 2030/31 period, 4,807 (75.6%) will be for social rent, 1,484 (23.3%) will be for mid-market rent, and 70 (0.1%) will be for shared equity / Partnership Support for Regeneration.