Targeted at 165 sites across the city, the new homes will make a significant contribution towards preventing and reducing homelessness, including families living in temporary accommodation, as well as tackling child poverty and meeting the needs of Glasgow’s rising and ageing population.

In addition to building new homes, the vast majority of which will be for social rent, the plan includes acquiring an additional 550 private homes which will also be made available for social rent.

The Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) will now be submitted to the Scottish Government, along with the request of the £890 million grant required to deliver the new homes.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, convener for housing, development and land use at Glasgow City Council, said that building more affordable homes was an essential issue for the city to tackle, and this Housing Investment Plan will help us to meet the challenges of the housing emergency while also delivering major social, economic and environmental benefits.

“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:

• 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; and
• 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.

The council has also carried out an analysis of how the development of additional sites to those 165 already identified in the SHIP could support the creation of more new homes. This analysis found that 4,648 new homes could be built at 46 brownfield sites in Glasgow, at an estimated cost of over £649.7m. The cost of the wider SHIP programme if it was expanded and accelerated in this way would be just under £1.6 billion for 11,559 new affordable homes and the acquisition of a further 550 homes for social rent.

The council is also considering how vacant and underused floors in commercial buildings in the city centre could be converted into affordable homes.