East Lothian Councillors today (Tuesday) agreed to spend more than £171 million over the next five years on building new council housing and modernising existing stock.
Over £95 million has been earmarked for building new council homes with almost £60 million to be invested in modernisation of existing council houses.
Councillor Jim Goodfellow, East Lothian Council’s spokesperson for Housing said: “This is even more good news for current and future council tenants, particularly given that our tenants enjoy one of the lowest levels of council rents in Scotland.
“Since 2007 we have delivered over 1,500 new affordable homes of which more than 700 are new council homes. A further 700 have been delivered through our Housing Association partners with a further 130 intermediate tenures such as discounted sale and mid-market rent delivered through other financial models.
“The investments agreed today are essential to meet the demands of our communities, to build on our track record and support people to live, work and thrive in East Lothian.
“The continuous improvement in our housing stock will also be welcome as East Lothian Council takes its duties as a landlord very seriously and we strive to maintain the best possible housing standards to build healthy, sustainable and happy communities.”
In 2019/20 new homes are expected to be completed in Haddington, Dunbar, Gullane and Aberlady.
Further new council housing developments are planned for Haddington, Cockenzie, Tranent, Musselburgh and Ormiston.
There will also be a further release of some discounted housing for sale in North Berwick through Cruden Homes.
Meanwhile, there will be a rolling programme of improvements to existing council houses. This includes refurbishments of bathrooms, kitchens and roofing and the installation of energy efficiency measures – in an effort to help reduce fuel poverty.