£16.2m spend for affordable houses during 2009/10

9.37.25pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 13th May 2009

East Lothian Council and housing associations in the county are set to spend over £16.2m developing new affordable homes during 2009/10.

A meeting of the Council's Cabinet today (12 May 2009) approved over £8.3m of funding for its 2009/10 Council Housing New Build Development Programme. This will see 146 Council houses approved for construction at five separate sites across the county during the 12-month period. The largest of these sites is Brunt Court in Dunbar, with 88 homes ranging one-bedroom flats to three-bedroom houses. Construction at Brunt Court is due to begin in Autumn 2009 for completion in Autumn 2010. A further 13 houses are due to complete construction before April 2010.

In addition to the Council's programme, the Scottish Government has set aside £7.9m for housing associations in the county for the Registered Social Landlord Affordable Housing Investment Programme (RSL AHIP) for 2009/10.

Councillors heard that affordable housing in East Lothian had been given a significant boost thanks to additional Government funding through the Council house subsidy and the Housing Association Grant (HAG) programmes. The £2.62m granted to East Lothian Council in April to subsidise 105 new Council homes during was the largest award made in Scotland and may help the authority to secure further opportunities with private developers in the county. The Council's policy to work with Registered Social Landlords to maximise HAG monies, the advanced stage of its own build programme and the acute shortage of housing have all helped to attract greater sums of investment.

Cabinet member for Housing and Community Services Councillor Stuart Currie told the meeting:

"This is great news for everyone waiting for a house in East Lothian. The housing challenges in the county can't be solved by one organisation, which is why such partnership is essential to attract more money and build more homes in our area."