Tower re-provisioning

In 2017, we announced a major change in our housing policy in consultation with the residents of North Lanarkshire, with plans agreed to demolish a number of towers and low rise blocks and replace them with modern homes fit for the future. This forms part of our Plan for North Lanarkshire, which includes providing 5000 new affordable homes for rent by 2035.

Through our consultation in May 2018 we identified the first phase of this plan with 15 high-rise tower blocks and 34 low-rise blocks identified to be demolished within the next three to five years.

All tenants whose homes are in the first phase for demolition have been contacted by their local area housing office and housing options interviews have been arranged. During each interview, one of our housing advisers will help to identify the tenant’s individual housing needs and offer suitable housing options based on their circumstances and in line with the general allocations policy.

There are over 1700 flats identified in phase one of the re-provisioning programme. We know from this first consultation in May 2018 that overwhelmingly residents are in favour of plans to demolish and regenerate tower blocks. Currently, 79% of properties in the first phase blocks are already empty.

Demolition is complete at Northburn Place in Airdrie, with Merrick, Pentland & Cheviot Court currently in the process of being demolished. Burnside Court, Coatbridge is next in line for demolition, which is set to start in Jan 2021. Going forward, demolition at Stanhope place, Wishaw will take place during 2021 with further blocks set to follow. Further consultation will be undertaken as the end of phase 1 approaches, with an aim to agree on a second phase with the local community.

What happens next?

Following decant and demolition of each High- or Low-rise block, the vacant site is then passed to our New Supply Team. At this stage, we arrange for site investigations to be carried out to ensure the site is viable for New Build Housing and the design team start to discuss possible housing layouts that will suit each site. The housing mix selected is also determined by the demand for the size/type of property within the area.

More information on the progress of these sites will be published in our New-build Housing section.