SNP MSP Christina McKelvie has welcomed the announcement of a further £1.75 billion Scottish Government investment in affordable housing across Scotland, which includes £78 million over the next three years for South Lanarkshire.

Councils and house-builders across Scotland’s 32 local authorities will have the opportunity to plan ahead with grant subsidies guaranteed, for the first time, for the next three years until 2021.

In 2018-19, £532 million will be shared amongst local authorities – rising to £591 million in 2019-20 and £630 million in 2020-21.

Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, added:

“The announcement that South Lanarkshire will receive £78 million over the next three years provides the certainty that my constituency and the sector needs to keep progressing. The funding also ensures we keep up the momentum to reach the Scottish Government’s target of 50,000 new affordable homes by 2021.

“Increasing the supply of affordable homes is a key SNP commitment and plays a vital role in helping to tackle poverty and inequality in throughout Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.

"Committing funding until the end of this parliament will help ensure that Scotland leads the way in building homes that are high-quality, efficient and affordable, and will strengthen our house-building sector and the estimated 14,000 jobs that the affordable housing supply programme supports each year.

“The SNP believes that everyone in Scotland deserves a warm, affordable home and with a huge number of affordable homes approved last year, we are making great progress towards that aim.”

Commenting, SNP Councillor and Chair of Housing and Technical Resources, Josh Wilson said:

“Additional funding to build much needed council houses in South Lanarkshire is welcome. It’s also welcome that, for the first time, Council’s across Scotland will be able to plan our house building programme for the next three years.

“We know we face challenges in terms of demand and supply in South Lanarkshire and, to meet those challenges, we must be ambitious.

“I look forward to working with the Scottish Government to deliver on their targets and build thousands of affordable homes across our county.”