Built by Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, the new affordable homes will be the first new houses for East Renfrewshire Council to be built in Newton Mearns in a generation.

The development 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 the COVID-19 lockdown, construction on site safely began in July and handovers to new council tenants are expected to begin in March 2021, ending in August of the same year.

As well as providing these high quality affordable homes for social rent, and the contributions towards the provision of land and funding to facilitate the new Maidenhill Primary School, by 31 August 2020, Taylor Wimpey will have paid over £740,000 in developer contributions for completions of new homes in 2019 and for the first quarter of this year.

Discussions between the developer and East Renfrewshire Council are already ongoing for the next area of 30 affordable homes for social rent, which are targeted for delivery by mid-2022.

East Renfrewshire Council housing and maintenance convener, Councillor Danny Devlin, who visited the site, said: “I am really 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 am in no doubt that our future tenants will be very happy here.

“East Renfrewshire continues to be an extremely popular place to live and this is why the council begun its 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 undertaken. I very much look forward to seeing the finished properties and the tenants who make them their home.”

Alison Henderson, special projects manager for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, said: “This is an exciting phase of activity at Maidenhill as we mark the start of construction of the first 39 affordable homes for social rent. This significant project is part of our wider agreement to deliver a total of 82 affordable homes, which contributes to the masterplan vision and framework for the new community that is now emerging at Maidenhill, Newton Mearns.

“In overall terms the Maidenhill development is bringing significant investment and creating local jobs across the area, including some exciting opportunities for young apprentices, and we’ll continue to work closely with East Renfrewshire Council and the local community to ensure Newton Mearns reaps the benefits of our long-term investment in the area.”

This development comes following two years of house building by the council in Barrhead, which continues with construction planned across East Renfrewshire in the coming months.