Johnstone Castle council housing transformation wins top national award

The project to build 95 new homes in the Johnstone Castle area has been recognised at a prestigious Scotland-wide awards ceremony.

The development across five sites in the Renfrewshire town was awarded Affordable Housing Development of the Year in the Social Rent category at the latest Scottish Home Awards.

This complex and challenging programme saw the rehousing of around 200 tenants, purchase of privately-owned properties, and demolition of outdated tenement flats, to clear the way for 95 new affordable energy-efficient homes for social rent.

The project was run by Renfrewshire Council, with funding support from the Scottish Government, and delivered by architects Anderson Bell Christie and builders Engie Construction.

Competition judges said they were particularly impressed with the levels of community engagement throughout the project, which has transformed the look and feel of the area.

The 95 modern, energy-efficient homes for social rent include a mix of one and two-bedroom cottage flats and two, three and four-bedroom family homes.

The homes were designed to be adaptable for the current and future needs of tenants, and include two specially-designed wheelchair-adapted bungalows.

Cllr Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board, said: “This is a great win for the project team and for the people of Johnstone Castle and it’s fantastic to see the project recognised at national level for its quality.

“I’m particularly pleased the judges singled out our community engagement efforts and this truly has been a project where the council, our build partners and local people have worked together.

“We are committed to providing people in Renfrewshire with great places to live and this is a demonstration of our commitment.

“We’re making a £100m investment to improve the quality of local council houses through our Housing Regeneration and Renewal Programme over the next ten years, and we always strive to achieve the high standards shown by developments such as Johnstone Castle.”

All 95 homes in the completed development are now occupied by tenants of Renfrewshire Council.

Anyone interested in applying for housing with Renfrewshire Council can call the Housing Options team on 0300 300 0222.