A bid to build 3,381 new affordable houses in Fife before 2025 have been backed by councillors.
Fife Council’s strategic housing investment programme (SHIP) will now be submitted to the Scottish Government in a request for funding to help subsidise the total cost of almost £190 million over the coming years.
Despite the figures only being estimates at this stage, head of housing John Mills has told members of the region’s community and housing services committee the plan represents the council’s ambition to provide as many new affordable council houses as possible.
“We are also committed to making sure 30% of these new homes can cater for people with specific needs, with 5% of the new properties classed as wheelchair housing,” he said.
It is the latest housing target set by the local authority, which in 2017 pledged to build 3,500 new affordable homes in the kingdom by 2022.
That was on top of the 2,700 new affordable homes created during the last administration’s tenure between 2012 and 2017 which included plans for 1,500 council houses.
According to the new SHIP, around 3,098 of the proposed properties will come under the social rented banner, with 283 going out to mid-market rent.
However, councillors were told that the SHIP contains 25% over-provision which caters for any slippage that might occur for whatever reason.
Most of the new homes are planned for Dunfermline and west Fife, where 1,418 new homes are proposed, with 741 for Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Central, 711 for St Andrews and north east Fife and 311 for Cupar and north west Fife.
A further 200 homes have been described as “Fife-wide” in the SHIP, and have not been allocated yet.
Labour councillor Judy Hamilton, convener of the council’s community and housing services committee, said: “Continuing to build on our successful affordable housing programme is a top priority for the council and, working with partners including the Fife Housing Association Alliance, we will be aiming to create as many safe, warm and affordable homes for Fifers as possible.”
The combined TAYplan and SESplan Housing Needs and Demand Assessment (HNDA) concluded there is a requirement for an additional affordable supply of 594 affordable homes per year over the next 12 years – a total of 2,970 over the five-year period of the SHIP.
There are suggestions a further 470 units could be created through other Scottish Government affordable housing options on top of Fife’s current target, which would take Fife’s total to 3,851 units – an average of 770 per year.
