SCOTLAND'S biggest group of social landlords is build 7,500 new affordable homes across the country after securing a record-breaking bankroll from Europe.
The Wheatley Group unveiled £185 million of new funding from the European Investment Bank to help build and improve thousands of affordable homes across Scotland in a landmark deal hailed as by the First Minister as a benefit of Scotland's EU links.
It also marks a significant step in the wider push to tackle homelessness, high-rents and other housing hardships.
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As part of the groundswell Wheatley Group earlier linked up with Edinburgh social enterprise Social Bite, which started as a sandwich bar and won the high-profile support of Prince Harry and George Clooney, to provide flats in Glasgow and across central Scotland for homeless people through the charity Housing First.
The EIB loan, described as being "by far the largest of its type made in Scotland", is linked to a commitment by Wheatley to invest £400m over the next three years in affordable housing.
Above: Jonathan Taylor, Amy Rigby, Nicola Sturgeon, Kyle Wilson
This also includes refurbishing existing homes to meet new Scottish and EU energy-efficiency standards, helping tenants cut energy bills, and housing and integrating refugees into communities.
The deal was announced in Glasgow by EIB vice president Jonathan Taylor at a community event attended by Nicola Sturgeon and tenants, staff and apprentices from across Wheatley, along with local politicians, business, community and social housing leaders.
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It takes the amount of funding raised by Wheatley in the past four years to £800m and comes in the week the group was confirmed – for the second year running – as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes.
Wheatley is forging ahead with an ambitious building programme, from 2015 through to 2025, of 7,500 affordable new homes across the country in communities including Balloch, Dumbarton, Glasgow, West Lothian, Edinburgh and North Berwick.
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is committed to reaching its target of 50,000 new affordable homes in three years time "ensuring people have access to quality housing is a fundamental part of building a fair and equal society".
She said the deal is "also another reminder of how Scotland benefits from the EU and its institutions".
Martin Armstrong, Wheatley chief executive, said the loan enables expansion "but it is about so much more than simply bricks and mortar".
"Wheatley’s mission is to make lives, not just homes, better."
The group comprises six registered social landlords: Glasgow Housing Association, Dunedin Canmore, Cube Housing Association, Loretto Housing, West Lothian Housing Partnership and Barony Housing Association.
Alastair MacNish, Wheatley chairman, said: “It will help us to consolidate our position as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes, which we hold close as a badge of honour at a time when the availability and supply of affordable housing is such an acute priority.”
Mr Taylor, speaking at the funding announcement at the Reidvale Neighbourhood Centre in Gallowgate, Glasgow, where GHA, is building 143 homes, said: "New investment in social housing is crucial to increase the number of affordable homes and cut heating bills in existing properties.
"This week’s visit to Glasgow provides a valuable opportunity to see how upgrading existing properties and construction of new social housing will improve lives, create skilled jobs, benefit local suppliers and cut heating bills in homes for hundreds of families.”
The new £185m EIB loan, along with future investments, will enable Wheatley to maintain a building programme of around 650 homes a year from 2021 to early 2025.
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