Renfrewshire Council

Regeneration and renewal plans

Howwood Road is one of the eight areas covered by our Housing-led Renewal and Regeneration Programme. You can see a map showing which addresses are covered by the programme here.

Map of the plans for Howwood Road [1MB]

The boundary proposed for the Howwood Road area has a total of 371 residential properties, 285 of which are council-owned and 86 privately-owned.

The plans for the Howwood Road area will see improvements to the outside of existing buildings, subject to owner agreement. This will make those homes more energy-efficient and help keep fuel bills down. This will 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;
• (in some cases) new windows;

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

The area will be further transformed through at least two phases of new-build housing. The first will be on the site of the former Cochrane Castle primary school (our initial estimates suggest this site could take around 75 new affordable units). The second will be on the cleared site of existing homes between Craigbog and Highcraig Avenues.

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.

We are currently looking into issues with drainage on the former St David's primary school site, as it may be possible to create a new improved open space for the area here.

Next steps and timeline

The estimated programme of works is as follows:

• 2023 - work continues 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;
• Late 2025 - the first phase of demolition (west of Highcraig Avenue) starts. We expect this will take around 18 months.
• 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. We expect this will take around 18 months.
• By 2031 - we expect all work to be complete.

Please note, as this is a long-term project, the timelines could be liable to change.

Throughout this time, we will be 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.

More info

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. You can read more information on your options in the link below:

Housing Regeneration and Renewal Programme - what it means for residents

We have a private Facebook group where residents of the Howwood Road regeneration area can keep in touch with our team. You can request to join that here but please be aware the group is only for residents of the properties covered by the programme.

If you have any other questions about any aspect of this programme, our team will be happy to answer them. You can contact us via the below:

Email: regeneration.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Phone: Michelle Lockard on 07881 842905 or Neil McGavin on 07484 062886.