PROPERTY experts today welcomed moves to build the first council homes in Edinburgh for nearly 20 years as a way of reducing the reliance on private developers.
The proposals mark a major shift in the city council's housing policy, and would see the creation of 1100 new properties for sale or rent.
With thousands of homes needed to tackle the Capital's housing crisis, the council currently relies on the
private sector to build new developments, one quarter of which the local authority usually demands are classed as "affordable".
But in today's economic climate, housebuilding in the city is slowing down, and developers are known to be put off by the 25 per cent quota. Council chiefs today said building properties on local authority-owned land was a way of tackling this problem.
A minimum of half the properties would be available for rent, with others sold to raise the necessary funds. A Scottish Government grant would also help pay for the scheme, although the council has been unable to provide a total sum.
Last year, Midlothian became the first Scottish local authority to build council houses since the early 1990s. Edinburgh's proposals will be put before councillors later this month, and if approved, a feasibility study will be completed by March 2009.
Planning and development expert Craig Wallace, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "This approach suggests a new breed of council housing in Edinburgh. The council should be applauded for taking a proactive stance."
Allan Lundmark, director of planning with Homes For Scotland, added: "This is welcome news. It is precisely what the council should be doing, and it's taken a long time to get here."
The homes will be built on the site of existing properties due for demolition, such as Broomview House and Hermiston Court in Sighthill, Fala and Garvald Court in Gracemount, and along Muirhouse Crescent and West Pilton Crescent.
Councillor Paul Edie, the city's housing leader, added: "This is the first time in a generation that the council has considered building homes which marks a major shift in strategy and defining council housing in the 21st century.
"I hope the people of Edinburgh will be reassured that their council is responding to the obvious difficulties many of them face."
Through the council's current affordable housing investment policy, around 500 new homes are delivered each year, but these are restricted to registered social landlords. Meanwhile, the controversial right-to-buy policy has eroded the city's social housing stock over the years, and is partly responsible for the current crisis of affordable housing.
The full article contains 436 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
