Over 50 homes are set to be built on a former school site in Crookston after plans to sell the land for £3m were approved.

Glasgow councillors have backed a deal with Bellway Homes for the old Howford Primary School and schoolhouse site, which was cleared following fires.

The developer’s bid was considered best value for the council, with the sale set to go through before any planning permission for homes is granted. A previous sale had fallen through as it was reliant on Robertson Living securing permission for 70 homes. 

Councillors had been minded to grant approval for 57 homes — the number now proposed by Bellway — which meant Robertson were “unable to complete on their original bid” and a revised offer could not be agreed.

When the Crookston Road site went to market again this year, a higher headline bid of just over £5m was received, but officials said it would have required permission for 58 homes to be granted.

Abnormal costs also needed to be deducted from the fee and payments were planned in two stages, with the second one over 12 months away. With the Bellway offer, the £3m is expected to be received this financial year.

Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for housing, development and land use, said: “The disposal of this site in Crookston is good news for the area and the city.

“A vacant site will now be given a new and productive use with new and much-needed homes being built there, and a substantial capital receipt for the council will be reinvested into the delivery of public services in Glasgow.”

Overall, the council received 14 bids for the site. Any successful bidder will need to submit a new planning application, a council report stated. 

Planners advised it could take up to 16 months for permission to be in place. The council could also receive an uplift on the completion of sales by Bellway as a result of a sales revenue overage in the offer.

BMI Healthcare Ltd had been set to buy the site for around £3.3m in 2020 but, due to a board restructure, the deal was “no longer supported”, a council report states.

It went back on the market in 2021 when Robertson Living attempted to buy the land, proposing a mix of detached and semi detached homes.