CLACKMANNANSHIRE Council’s plans for investing in affordable housing in the next five years have been published.

On Thursday (30 October) the Housing, Health and Care Committee heard a Strategic Housing Investment Plan report which outlined how the local authority will provide more affordable homes for local people.

It includes the council’s own resources, other external funding streams, investment from registered social landlords such as Kingdom Housing Association and grants made available through the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Convener of Housing, Health and Social Care councillor Les Sharp, who became council leader on Monday (3 November), said: “The council has been determined to ensure that more affordable housing is available for people in Clackmannanshire, and we have achieved significant investment, with a further £8.75m invested during the year, bringing a total of £21.4m invested in just three years.

“This plan brings together the data for housing need and demand and shows how we plan to meet that need over the next five years. The plans are ambitious for our small council and exceed those of many larger local authorities, and show our commitment to ensuring we can provide homes for Clackmannanshire residents.” As part of the five year development plan, a number of developments are on site or have approval.

At the former school site of Fairfield in Sauchie, work is expected to start early in 2015 and will provide 19 council rented homes.

A site in Delph Road, Tullibody, was sold by the council to Kingdom Housing Association with approval for 27 affordable houses.

Also in the programme is the acquisition of existing properties, with 15 scheduled for 2014/15 following a successful programme in the previous year.

The report also looks at future plans for possible development in the county, some of which are planned in partnership with Kingdom Housing Association.