Renfrewshire Council

Regeneration and renewal plans

Howwood Road is one of the eight areas covered by our Housing-led Renewal and Regeneration Programme.

This map shows the homes covered by the programme:

Map of the plans for Howwood Road [1MB]

Home improvements

Improvements to the outside of existing homes are planned, subject to owner agreement.

This will make those homes more energy-efficient and in most cases include:

• new roofs, including new roof trims, gutters and rainwater pipes, and the addition of solar panels
• external wall insulation
• improvements to balconies
• new TV aerials
• new windows (in some cases).

There will also be improvements to outdoor areas such as gardens, bin storage and recycling facilities.

New build council housing

There are at least two phases of new build housing planned.

The first is on the site of the former Cochrane Castle Primary School and on the grassed area next to this, off Highcraig Avenue

McTaggart Construction has been awarded the contract to design and build 70 homes.

They are starting the design process and finalising plans for a public consultation event.

The second phase of Council houses will be built on the cleared site of existing homes between Craigbog and Highcraig Avenues.

Housing demolition

The first phase of demolition will cover the following blocks, all west of Highcraig Avenue:

• 1-23 and 41-47 Highcraig Avenue
• 92-122 Dundonald Avenue
• 211-289 Greenend Avenue

The second phase of demolition will cover these blocks, all east of Highcraig Avenue:

• 1-47 Craigenfeoch Avenue
• 52-90 Dundonald Avenue
• 34-64 and 121-199 Greenend Avenue
• 2-24 Highcraig Avenue

Council tenants who are being rehoused will have the right to be considered for the new build homes.

Next steps and timeline

This is a long-term project so the timelines could be liable to change.

The estimated programme of works is:

• Ongoing - work to bring privately-owned properties earmarked for demolition into council ownership, and on feasibility studies for new-build housing
• Late 2024 - construction starts on the first phase of new-build council homes on the former Cochrane Castle primary school site. We estimate this will take around two years;
• Early 2025 - work starts to improve all properties being retained (as described above). We expect this will take around two to three years;
• 2026 - the first phase of demolition (west of Highcraig Avenue) starts.
• 2028 - the second phase of new-builds (on the site of the demolished homes listed above) starts. This should take around two years;
• 2029 - the second phase of demolition (east of Highcraig Avenue) starts.
• By 2031 - we expect all work to be complete.

Throughout this time, we are working with council tenants in blocks proposed for demolition to help them find another home elsewhere, and with the owners of those properties to help bring them into Council ownership.

We will also be working with all residents over the years ahead on a neighbourhood plan for the area, to capture your views on the issues affecting the wider area, what you would like to see changed or improved, and how we and our partners can work together to deliver on that.

If you would like to be involved in this, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact the team via the details below.

Contact us

We appreciate you may have questions over what happens next. Whether you are a tenant or an owner, there are options open to you - we want to help find the right one for you.

Read all about the different options available to you.

Residents of the properties covered by the Howwood Road regeneration area programme can request to join the Howwood Road Housing Regeneration private facebook group.

If you have any other questions about any aspect of this programme, our team will be happy to answer them. You can contact us by email to regeneration.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk or by calling Michelle Lockard on 07881 842905 or Neil McGavin on 07484 062886.