Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, and Aileen Campbell MSP, the cabinet secretary for communities and local government, were joined by Beth McNeil, regional managing director of Keepmoat Homes, and Bernadette Hewitt, chair of Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), to mark the start of work.

The development, to be known as NorthBridge, is part of the £250 million Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area (TRA) - the biggest such scheme in the UK outside of London - and will feature a mix of exclusively designed, two, three, four and five-bedroom houses and one and two-bedroom apartments when it is completed.

NorthBridge is being delivered by Keepmoat Homes in partnership with GHA and its sister organisation Lowther Homes, which are both part of Wheatley Group.  Lowther will manage the 198 homes for mid-market rent on the site.

Once the 50 hectares plus Sighthill TRA is complete, an enhanced neighbourhood - immediately beside the city centre, just 15 minutes’ walk from George Square - will have been created for existing members of the local community and for the residents of the new development, with almost 1000 new homes of various tenures.

Some of the other features of the regenerated Sighthill will include the recently-opened community campus school, and a new road bridge over the Glasgow-Edinburgh railway line now improves the connections between Sighthill and neighbouring communities. The parkland and the greenspace of the area are being significantly improved, and work will shortly begin on a landmark new pedestrian and cyclist bridge connecting Sighthill to the city centre.

In addition, a new public square, new shops and businesses will come to Sighthill, and the area will be reconnected to the Forth and Clyde canal at the Pinkston basin, with a canal terrace transforming the area. Land remediation - now complete - funded through the Glasgow City Region City Deal has made the delivery of these new features possible.

In addition to the new homes, Keepmoat has made long-term commitments to benefit the surrounding community including training, employment and engagement programmes to be delivered throughout the lifetime of the project.

As part of this, Keepmoat has partnered with Morgan Sindall, Glasgow Kelvin College, TIGERS Training and Sibbald Training to create BUILD North Glasgow, a unique consortium offering training to 180 participants, including 90 ex-military staff, to kick-start their career in construction. BUILD North Glasgow received £1.2m funding from CITB in order to deliver the programmes, the largest amount of its kind and the sole winning bid in Scotland.

Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “This is another important step in the delivery of the £250million Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area, with these new homes set to attract people to a new neighbourhood located close to the city centre. Sighthill is now home to a great new community schools campus, improved connections to the areas around it, and will have fantastic greenspace immediately besides the new housing.

“Alongside the huge range of regeneration activity taking place on and beside Glasgow’s Canal, and with new neighbourhoods and housing to come in areas such as Cowlairs, Dundashill, Hamiltonhill and Ruchill, the future is bright for those living and wanting to live and invest in North Glasgow.”

Communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “This £250m development is an exceptional example of what can be achieved when Scottish and local government, partners and the local community work together to deliver real transformation. As well as creating new jobs and training opportunities, Sighthill will promote integrated community living in the city and deliver high-quality homes, including 198 affordable homes funded by almost £10m from the Scottish Government.

“Housing is embedded in so much that we want to achieve, including eradicating poverty and homelessness, tackling the effects of climate change and promoting inclusive growth. The Scottish Government is investing more than £3.3 billion over this parliamentary term to deliver 50,000 affordable homes, including 35,000 for social rent.”

Beth McNeil, regional managing director of Keepmoat Homes, commented: “We are delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government to the launch of our exciting new development in Glasgow. We are very excited to be starting work on the NorthBridge development, which we believe firmly is a once-in-a-generation project which will transform the area.

“This development means more to us than just delivering quality new homes to the area, which is why we’re proud to be working with partners including Morgan Sindall, Glasgow Kelvin College, TIGERS Training and Sibbald Training to invest in the community to ensure the impact of this development goes beyond bricks and mortar and delivers real value to real people, whether through training and career opportunities or supporting local community groups.”

Bernadette Hewitt, GHA chair, added: “GHA tenants are already enjoying living in the smart, new energy-efficient homes built as part of the first phase of Sighthill’s transformation. This next stage will see us bring almost 200 more homes for affordable rent to what is fast becoming a fantastic place to live. Both GHA and our sister organisation, Lowther Homes, are delighted to be part of these exciting plans.”