Being delivered by developer CCG (Scotland) Ltd, the new council house site in Brandon Street is home to ground source heat pumps which help reduce heating emissions, making the homes more energy efficient and comfortable for tenants.

Marking Scotland’s Climate Week, the minister met with council staff and contractors to learn more about the range of energy efficiency measures being delivered as part of the new council house building programme, which sets an ambitious target of 5,000 new homes by 2035.

The new homes also feature other renewable technologies such as social panels, EV chargers and a range of insulation measures to improve energy efficiency, protect the environment and tackle fuel poverty.

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “I was very pleased to visit North Lanarkshire Council’s development at Brandon Street, Motherwell as part of Scotland’s Climate Week.

“With 22% of emissions coming from our homes and workplaces there is a real challenge to meet our net zero ambition by 2045. Supported by more than £4 million of Scottish Government funding, the Brandon Street development homes include a communal ground source heat pump system delivering zero emission heating to well-insulated new build homes.

“From December, new homes funded through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme will have zero emission heating as a requirement. I look forward to seeing more homes with zero emission heating sources in developments across Scotland.”

Convener of Housing, Councillor Michael McPake, added: “Sustainability is at the heart of our new council house building programme. We’re including features which don’t present additional carbon to the environment, maximise energy efficiency and the use of renewable technology.

“We’ve all seen the impact of climate change and in response to the climate emergency the council set a net zero target for 2030. We are taking significant steps towards this by aligning our housebuilding strategy with construction methods and technology, ensuring we can meet these ambitious targets as well as sustaining housing demand and have already delivered our first new zero homes.”

The site at Brandon Street will see a mix of 48 new homes delivered next summer. The project is costing £11 million with grant funding of £4.158m from the Scottish Government, which includes additional funding from Scotland’s Heat Network Fund in part support of the heating delivered in these homes.

David Wylie, managing director of CCG, added: “CCG has worked in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council since 2018. Since then, we have maintained the delivery of high-quality, affordable homes, and transformed communities, and now, we proudly support their transition to net zero.

“Brandon Street is one of two developments currently on-site that is utilising an innovative mix of enhanced building standards and zero-emissions heating systems; the council has embraced new building methods and technologies and we are delighted to play our part in shaping the future of housebuilding here in Motherwell and across the local authority.”