Queens Cross Housing Association has entered into a £17m contract with Glasgow based construction firm Morris & Spottiswood to build 140 new homes at Murano Street in Firhill, north west Glasgow.

The development has a total cost of £22.8m to be met by £14.5m of grant support from Glasgow City Council and £8.3m of private finance.

The development will see the construction of 32 four-storey flats for rent on Murano Street.

A further 108 flats will form a long six-storey block overlooking the canal, of which 66 will be for rent and 42 will be marketed for Shared Equity.

Work will initially concentrate on the flats to be built directly on Murano Street, and these should be completed by the summer next year. The remainder of the development is scheduled to complete by the summer of 2011.


A total of 84 of the flats for rent will provide new homes for GHA tenants in Hamiltonhill whose existing houses are being demolished. A further 14 flats will provide homes to meet the Association's existing housing needs.

Shared Equity (or part sale) is a Government initiative, targeted at first time buyers, to enable easier access to home ownership. The scheme allows for the initial purchase of a share of the property only. The Association is hoping to attract local residents interested in buying their own homes, and is developing a list of names of potential first time buyers.

The Murano Street project is the first to start onsite of a wider significant programme of 337 new homes in the area, all due to start this year.

Queens Cross Housing Association Chief Executive Frank McCabe said: "The Association is delighted to see the site start of this project which will offer much needed high quality new homes for local residents whose houses are being demolished. In addition, the project will offer a substantial number of low cost new homes for first time buyers in this popular area overlooking the city."

Douglas Bennett, Managing Director of Morris & Spottiswood's Housing Division said: "Construction work is now well underway and we look forward to providing quality homes for the association and the residents of North West Glasgow."

(GK/JM)