ALMOST 1400 houses are to be built in Glasgow to provide more rented accommodation.

ALMOST 1400 houses are to be built in Glasgow to provide more rented accommodation.

The £83million package will finance a range of projects including the upgrading of some existing houses.

Glasgow City Council has been awarded the cash by the Scottish Government.

Council chiefs say they want to concentrate on making more houses available for social rent and low cost ownership.

There will be a total of 1340 new houses - 950 for rent and 390 for private ownership. On top of that 110 houses will have improvements carried out.

George Ryan, the council's executive member for development and regeneration, said: "The council's housing strategy aims to offer residents a choice when it comes to socially rented accommodation and home ownership."

Although Glasgow City Council is no longer responsible for building houses it has responsibility for the city's overall housing stock.

The houses are owned and managed by Glasgow Housing Association and a number of other housing associations.

The projects set to be given the go-ahead were submitted to the council by housing associations.

They include a number of sites which will provide 465 new homes to GHA tenants whose houses are part of the agency's demolition programme.

It is the first phase of houses for GHA tenants who are being cleared from their homes.

The houses will be built on sites all over Glasgow. One of the largest is an 80-home development at the junction of Dunn Street, Reid Street and Rumford Street in Dalmarnock. Other sites include Manse Brae in Cathcart, Murano Street in Ruchill, and the junction of Lymburn Street and Argyle Street in Cranstonhill.

Jacqui Watt, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, said: "We welcome the latest tranche of this funding for quality social housing."