A £3.7BILLION joint venture which will secure thousands of local jobs over the next 30 years is expected to get the backing of city councillors this week.

The partnership between the Wheatley Group, which is the parent company of Glasgow Housing Association, and city council arm’s length company City Building will be the biggest deal of its kind in the UK.

The 50/50 joint venture between Scotland’s largest council and the country’s biggest social landlord will result in Wheatley taking a 50% shareholding in City Building, becoming a partner and joint owner and City Building undertaking all repair work for GHA and Wheatley’s other social landlords in the west of Scotland.

It will secure 2000 jobs and more than 2000 apprenticeships over the next three decades and will also sustain employed for disabled workers at City Building.

City council leader Frank McAveety said: “This is the biggest deal of its kind in the UK and the positive impact on our communities and the wider Glasgow economy will be enormous.

“Securing 2000 jobs and 2000 apprenticeships if a fantastic legacy for the people of Glasgow, not to mention the thousands of tenants of Glasgow Housing Association who will enjoy an industry-leading range of services for many years to come.”

Under the new deal, City Building’s specialist manufacturing division which employs more than 260 local people, around half with disabilities, will undertake a range of additional work for Wheatley Group subsidiaries.

It is expected to get the backing of city councillors this week and will go before the Wheatley Group board in the next couple of week.

GHA chairwoman Bernadette Hewitt said: “Our priority is and always has been to ensure a first-class repairs and maintenance service for our tenants and factored homeowners and the new joint venture is the best way of doing this.”

The new deal was welcomed by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stuart Patrick.

He said: “People and skills are at the heart of Glasgow’s economic growth, which has outstripped that of many other major UK cities in recent years.

“This joint venture plays to the undoubted strengths of both organisations and will create prosperity and growth for many years to come.”