ONE of Glasgow's most notorious and cash-starved areas has attracted almost £10million in funding.

Arden, in the south west of the city, will get cash to build dozens of new homes and renovate hundreds of houses and flats, which will include replacing old heating boilers.

The cash windfall was announced today by Glen Oaks Housing Association.

Officials say the planned spend of £9.6m represents the biggest amount of money ever invested in Arden's housing stock.

Details were released to coincide with the association's 21st anniversary. The programme will see: -

l £3.4m spent on 39 new houses and flats for rent in Kilmuir Crescent. Four will be sold under a shared equity scheme. The homes will be ready next year.

l £5.1m will be used to refurbish 256 flats in Kilmuir Crescent and Kilmartin Place. New roofs, windows and boilers will be fitted, as will loft and wall insulation.

l £1.1m will be used to replace heating boilers in 400 other flats across Arden, while new central heating systems are to be fitted at another 25 homes.

Association chairman Bill McNamara said: "This is the best way we can celebrate our 21st birthday – by announcing good news for the community. It is the biggest ever investment in our homes.

"Glen Oaks believe that we will only regenerate our community if we also try to improve the quality of life for all our residents. These new homes and the refurbishment programme do just that and are a further step forward in the ongoing improvement of Arden."

The big winners are the association's tenants in Kilmuir Crescent. Just five months ago £2.9m was spent on building 25 new homes there.

The latest multi-million investment was boosted by a series of grants, including £1.3m from Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government towards the cost of the new homes, while ScottishPower is providing more than £2m towards the refurbishment programme.

Glen Oaks chief executive Alasdair McKee, said: "We are committed to building new homes and improving others.

"It is highly appropriate in our 21st year that we are announcing our biggest ever investment in Arden.

"Local people will undoubtedly welcome this boost for the community."

The estate was built between 1953 and 1957 by the Scottish Special Housing Association.

Glen Oaks bought the estate from Scottish Homes in 1999 and has since become one of the biggest housing providers in Greater Pollok.

But the estate has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Vandalism and constant street battles between local youths and rivals from neighbouring Darnley have blighted Arden for generations.

In April 2008 the Evening Times reported how people in Arden felt they were prisoners in their own homes because youngsters were waging war in the streets.

Gangs of boys as young as 12 congregated after school in Arden, hurling bricks at the 57 bus to Darnley, fighting and threatening passers-by.

We also ran the headline: "IT'S WAR ON THE STREETS," when residents complained they were living in fear because of gang rivalries.

It typified life in Arden, especially among the young.

Even a £200,000 skatepark built to get youngsters off the streets was trashed after it became an underage drinking den and a magnet for gang fights.

But gradually the community has been changing for the better.

In 2007, Celebrity designers Colin and Justin came to Arden with a Channel 5 TV crew to help revamp the area following a plea for help from Glen Oaks officials.

For 10 months they worked to try to improve life for residents. Initially they were met with scepticism, but gradually the two won over the community.

Two years ago, the makeover kings were invited back to officially open a new community facility.

Arden Chill Out had been set up in a Portakabin. But its classes and activities for all ages proved a big hit, and Colin and Justin helped relaunch the facility in bigger premises.

Refurbishment work on the new facility was carried out by offenders on community service.

They completed the work in a matter of weeks, to the delight of Arden Chill Out chairwoman Shirley Duguid.

She said: "We can never thank them enough."

No one is pretending the estate is today trouble-free but housing chiefs believe that real investment in bricks and mortar and the local environment will reap rewards for the entire community.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk