PROTESTORS will gather in Maryhill this afternoon to call for more social housing and oppose the private sale of Collina Street, formerly known as The Valley scheme. 

Living Rent Glasgow is asking for the sale of the vacant land - which overlooks the city, Forth and Clyde Canal and Campsie Hills - to be halted as they claim no consultation was held by the Glasgow City Council over the future of the site. 

The union, which campaigns for housing rights, is demanding that the local authority and the Scottish Government make way for social homes within the site as they describe the private sell-off as a “death for the working-class community”.

Glasgow Times:  

A total of 125 new, low-cost homes will be made available for purchase as part of the development should the sale go through. 

But Living Rent Glasgow organiser, Nick Durie, has warned that this will only attract the homes to be “snapped-up” by buy-to-let landlords. 

He said: “They have built a token amount of social housing in the rest of the area, however I say this is a vendetta to the working class community because The Valley was exclusively social housing.

“The average house price in Glasgow is £190,000. So to get a mortgage, you’ll need to have money in the bank. The average Maryhill person will never see the kind of money needed for a deposit.

“We know that less expensive homes in Maryhill are still out of reach of the majority of people and are snapped up by buy to let landlords.

“This means there is no legal safeguard to prevent these 125 houses that are under the so called ‘affordable housing programme’ from being bought straight away by buy-to-let landlords. I think fast forward five years after the development, they will all be buy-to-let. 

Glasgow Times:

“If you look around, the impact long-term means there is less social housing and more private rented sector housing with an increase on house prices. This means rents – including those from social landlords – will rise to nobody’s benefit.

“This prestigious development will be anything but affordable, being sited on the arguably the bonniest part of Maryhill with commanding views and access to the Forth and Clyde canal and Kelvin water.”

As a union, Living Rent takes the view that vacant land should be prioritised for public housing. 

Nick added: “Vacant land should be prioritised for public housing, particularly where that land is vacant because of the demolition of public housing.  This is a matter of restorative justice.”

Glasgow Times:

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The Collina Street site will deliver 125 new low-cost home ownership properties in Maryhill, homes that will complement the wide range of affordable housing already built – and to be built – in the area.  

“The low-cost home ownership cannot be sold to private landlords as there is strict assessment criteria for the purchaser and unless they meet this criteria (first-time buyer, income threshold and so on) they will not be permitted to purchase.

“When completed, most of the homes in the Maryhill Transformational Regeneration Area will be in the socially-rented sector, underlining the reality that affordable homes will be a feature of the entire regeneration area in Maryhill, and providing low-cost home ownership offers a choice for those who prefer to buy.  

“The wider project will transform the quality of housing in this part of the area, which has seen a number of new community centres and facilities open or be refurbished in recent years. Consultation with the public on plans for the site has already taken place.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “In 2016/2017, the Scottish Government provided funding to contribute to the remediation of the Maryhill site. It is a condition of this funding that the site is marketed for affordable low-cost home-ownership and targeted at groups such as first-time buyers.

“The Scottish Government has delivered almost 96,000 affordable homes since 2007, over 66,000 of which were for social rent. It has also made available investment of more than £3.5 billion to deliver our target of 50,000 affordable homes, including 35,000 for social rent, over this parliamentary term. This year alone we have made available over £115 million for Glasgow.

“Ensuring everyone has access to a safe, warm and affordable place to call home is at the heart of our ambition for a fairer Scotland. We recognise the positive social and economic impact that investment in social housing contributes and we are committed to expanding our social housing stock.”