More than £50m is to be invested in housing across South Lanarkshire during 2022/23.
The figure includes close to £20m on new council housing, £10m on external fabric upgrading works, £4m on environmental improvements, more than £2m on energy efficiency works and more than £6million on central heating improvements.
The investment in external fabric upgrading works and environmental improvements are both more than double the amount invested over the course of this financial year.
Agreement on the investment was reached at a special meeting of the housing and technical resources committee, with the proposals now set to be decided at the executive committee and full council meetings taking place in February.
A rent increase of 2.2 per cent was also agreed, which will come into effect from April 1 this year.
This followed an extensive consultation process with tenants, and recent reports have noted that the council’s average rent is the lowest of any of the South Lanarkshire social landlords and the seventh lowest among Scottish local authority landlords.
In accordance with tenants’ wishes and to reflect COVID-related uncertainty, the rent rise is only for one year (2022/23) rather than being set for more than one year as normally done.
Chairman of the housing and technical resources committee, Councillor Josh Wilson, said: “I believe the housing budget for 2022/23 strongly confirms the council’s commitment to providing new, high-quality homes for residents while also ensuring our current homes are also maintained to high standards.”
Executive director for the department, Daniel Lowe, said: “Both the Budget Scrutiny Group and Tenant Participation and Coordination Group understood the council’s position with regards the rent increase and felt that 2.2 per cent provided good value for tenants while allowing continued investment, particularly in the current economic climate.
“They also concluded that the proposed increase of 2.2 per cent is fair and ensures that rents remain affordable for most tenants.”
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