The sale of an old car park to a housing developer has been hailed as a possible “first step” in the transformation of Tradeston.

Wheatley Homes is buying the council-owned site, last used as a storage yard, and has plans to build 112 properties for mid-market rent.

A deal, worth at least £448,000, was approved by councillors on Thursday and has been welcomed by Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the city’s convener for housing and development.

He said the aim is to turn what has traditionally been a commercial and industrial area into a place that is “more primarily, I hope, residential, given the excellent transport links and its location just adjacent to the city centre”.

Wheatley Homes, Scotland’s largest social landlord, requested permission to build on the former car park — bounded by Wallace Street, Cook Street, Centre Street and Tradeston Street — in 2024 and is currently awaiting a decision from council planners.

Available to households on low to moderate incomes, mid-market rent is usually cheaper than private rent but more expensive than social housing.

At a contracts and property committee meeting, Bailie Seonad Hoy, a Your Party councillor, asked whether social housing had been considered for this development.

A council official said: “The decision whether it’s mid-market or social isn’t made by us as the seller, it is made by the housing association with regards to funding.”

Cllr Kelly added: “This is an area of the city we are really looking to see change, and quite often mid-market rent is a leader for private investment.

“While social housing is a really important part of all of that, we are limited with the amount of money that we have that comes in through the Scottish Government and is disseminated to our housing association partners.

“Stimulating other investment in the area is really important to try and turn what has been a traditionally commercial/industrial area into an area that is going to be more primarily, I hope, residential, given the excellent transport links and its location just adjacent to the city centre as well.

“This could be a really good first step for the transformation of the area.”

Once home to Centre Street Primary School and Kingston Occupational Centre, the site was most recently used as a storage yard for a construction contractor.

Plans state the developer wants to offer “a range of high quality homes… with spaces for home working and high quality external amenity spaces to foster social interaction”. An internal courtyard is proposed.

A gross price of £1.23m has been agreed but abnormal development costs — unusual or additional costs faced while working on a site — will be deducted. A minimum purchase price of £448,000 is proposed.

Glasgow City Council would receive £398,000. City Property, which owns advertising hoardings on the site, would get £50,000.

The sale is set to be funded by the Scottish Government-funded affordable housing supply programme, which provides cash for social rent, mid-market rent and low cost home ownership.

After the meeting, Cllr Kelly added: “There’s been a lot of remarkable transformation along the south bank of the River Clyde in recent years, from the world class housing in Laurieston and the Gorbals to the stunning Barclays campus.

“But we’ve still a lot to do to deliver on the area’s huge potential. Bringing over 100 new affordable homes into Tradeston will go some way to achieving that, building on the transformation momentum and taking some pressure off the demand for housing in the city.”