Rural Clydesdale News

Forth neighbourhood news - July 2025

Detailed below is an update on work carried out over the last year to address the issues that you had previously identified as priorities for the Forth community. We also share some findings from a recent survey that was completed by tenants in the rural villages of Rigside, Douglas, Glespin and Forth.

Based on the views expressed during the survey and through talking to tenants and other members of the community, we want to work with you to develop a new rural housing plan for Forth.

Forth Rural Housing Plan highlights - 2024/25

You will see from the information provided in the table below that 2024/25 has been a busy year for Housing Services with good progress made against priorities that had previously been identified by the community.

Priorities	April 2024 to March 2025 update
Address lack of demand for housing resulting in long term empty properties and risk to longer term sustainability of area	Housing Services continues to promote the area through our Home Options service and the availability of properties in the area. During 2024/25 there were 50 lets in the area. We currently have 9 properties within Fort East that are long term voids. An action for 25/26 is to carry out a range of promotional activities to assist in the letting of these properties. Tenancy sustainment – there were 6 tenancies that ended under 12 months in 24/25.
Ongoing maintenance and improvement of housing stock	Home+ programme in Forth East for the kitchen programme is scheduled for 2025/26 with 193 properties included to receive a new kitchen Investment work in the form of External Fabric works is currently being carried out in Hawkwood Terrace and Skylaw Terrace.
Improve standards of individual gardens	During 2024/25 we continued our programme of garden inspections addressing any concerns. We continued our regular maintenance of green space within Forth. During 2024/25, 948 garden inspections were carried out.
Improve condition of open space/refuse disposal	Areas of concern have been identified and continue to be monitored.
Promote community safety	We have seen a reduction in anti-social behaviour with only 6 complaints received in 2024/25 compared to 7 complaints received in 2023/24.
Create opportunities for community involvement	Community engagement continued throughout 2024/25 with staff out in the community and also through the local housing forum. We hope to see engagement increase over the coming year and we welcome any tenants who wish to get involved, they can contact us on 0303 123 1012 or at housing.lanark@southlanarkshire.gov.uk.

Rural Villages Survey - Your views

Between November 2024 and January 2025, tenants across four rural villages had the opportunity to complete a survey to tell us their views on their home, their community, and what they would like to see the council do more of.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. Here’s what you told us.

When it comes to your home:

9 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with the location
7 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with their garden, home safety, and design and layout of their house
5 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with home energy efficiency, and repairs and maintenance.

When it comes to the local community:

9 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with access to local amenities and shops
8 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with safety in their area
6 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with access to local public transport
4 out of every 10 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with cleanliness in their area.

You also told us where you’d like to see the council do more:

8 out of every 10 respondents think the council could to more to deal with dog-fouling and deliver litter picking campaigns
7 out of every 10 respondents think the council could do more to deal with anti-social behaviour, engage with people who live in the area and help to set up tenant-led groups
6 out of every 10 respondents think the council could do more to promote money advice services.

And finally:

8 out of every 10 respondents would recommend the council as a landlord
7 out of every 10 respondents think their rent represents value for money

Get involved!

The survey findings highlighted some potential priorities for inclusion in the new Forth Rural Housing Plan, including dog fouling, litter and anti social behaviour, however we would like to hear your views on specific actions that we could take to address some of these important issues. We also want to know if there are other priorities that need to be included in the Plan and whether we need to continue to work on any of the previous priority areas.

A key area of focus for us in the coming year is to increase engagement with the Forth community and we would welcome any tenants/members of the community who wish to get involved in helping us to develop the new Forth Rural Housing Plan to contact us on 0303 123 1012 or email us at housing.lanark@southlanarkshire.gov.uk.

We are also keen to change how we generally engage with and involve communities across South Lanarkshire and are currently working closely with customer representatives to review how customers influence housing services. We want to know what’s working well, what could be better, and how you would like to be involved in the future.

Please tell us your view by completing our online survey. The survey is open until 31 July 2025.

Join us at Customer Voices 2025!

This year’s Annual Customer Conference - Customer Voices 2025 will take place on Tuesday 16 September 2025 in the Banqueting Hall, Almada Street, Hamilton.

This lively and engaging event is your opportunity to:

hear the outcomes of our customer engagement survey
discuss housing issues that matter to you and help shape future housing services
meet council staff and other customer representatives

Spaces may be limited, so save the date and let us know early if you'd like to attend!

For more information on the survey or to register your interest in the conference, email stratsupadm@southlanarkshire.gov.uk or contact your local Housing Office on 0303 123 1012.

We can’t wait to hear from you - let’s shape the future of customer engagement together!