Scottish councils fund housing construction
Councils in Scotland will receive an extra £24 million to fund the construction of new properties to rent.
According to a story on the Local Government Chronicle, the Scottish Government will officially announce the new investment next week. It is expected that housing minister Alex Neil will then allocate the £24m between 20 different councils across Scotland.
The funds will be welcome news to construction workers looking to secure housing jobs. This latest round of grants will take the total allocation of Government funds to nearly £50 million. It is estimated that nearly 1,000 new properties will be built as a direct result of this investment.
Speaking to the Local Government Chronicle, Mr Neil said that increasing council house building will help "keep the economy moving", and that the investment would help safeguard jobs in construction as well as providing new opportunities for employment in building jobs.
Mr Neill said "I have been heartened by the manner in which local authorities across the country have worked with this government to reverse decades of decline in council house building".
"Increasing council house building will add to the record number of affordable homes being built across Scotland this year".
One council which will receive funds has been identified as Edinburgh, where £1.25m will help fund the development of 50 new houses for rent.