New council homes in Newton Mearns complete

Published 24 May 2021

Tenants have begun moving into brand new council houses in the Maidenhill area of Newton Mearns as construction on the first phase of the development is completed.

Built for East Renfrewshire Council by Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, these new affordable homes are the first new council houses to be built in Newton Mearns in a generation. The development, which received £2.3million funding from the Scottish Government, comprises of 12 one-bed cottage flats, eight two-bedroom cottage flats, two two-bedroom houses, 16 three-bedroom houses and one four-bed house.

Following last year's COVID-19 lockdown, construction on site safely began in July and the team successfully completed these first builds on time, allowing tenants and families to begin moving into their new homes from mid-April this year. It is expected that all homes will be handed over by the end of September.

As well as providing these high quality affordable homes for social rent and contributions towards the provision of land and funding for the new Maidenhill Primary School, by the end of 2020, Taylor Wimpey paid over £930,000 in developer contributions for completions of new homes. Further contributions are due in May for the first quarter of this year.  

The Council and developer have already confirmed an additional 30 affordable homes for social rent, which are targeted for delivery by mid-2022, and discussions are also continuing for a further 13 properties for 2022/23.

Sue Gray, who moved into her new home earlier this month, said: 'I feel very happy and appreciative of this new home I have moved into. It is lovely up here in Maidenhill and I feel settled already. There are many new homes around me and with the new school in place nearby, I look forward to the seeing the community and area develop over the coming months and years. It is comforting to feel safe here and I very much see this as my forever home.

East Renfrewshire Council Housing and Maintenance Convener, Councillor Danny Devlin, who visited the site, said: 'I am absolutely delighted that through Taylor Wimpey we are able to provide people with such great flats and houses here. There is a strong community growing in Maidenhill, with a state of the art new school, so I know that these tenants will be very happy in their new homes. East Renfrewshire continues to be an extremely popular place to live and this is why we began our ambitious house build project back in 2018; the results of which continue to provide families and individuals with high-quality, affordable homes in our communities. This development reflects our aspirations and I would like to thank Taylor Wimpey for the work they have done.'

This development comes following two years of ambitious house building in Barrhead by the Council, with further construction continuing across East Renfrewshire.