Why is a Scottish seaside town paying people to live there?

Inverclyde Council is encouraging people to come and live in the area by launching one-off payments.

The council’s grants aim to retain existing residents and attract new people to the area as part of the local authority’s repopulation strategy to reverse population decline.

With towns like Port Glasgow, Gourock and Greenock and views of the River Clyde, the area can be an attractive option.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Inverclyde was the most affordable place for first-time buyers in the UK.

A new £300 ‘Stay and Study Grant’ aims to encourage Inverclyde residents who have to travel outwith the area for education or training to continue living locally while completing their studies and plan their long-term future in Inverclyde.

The council has also launched a £400 ‘Relocation Grant’ to encourage people to move to Inverclyde by covering part of the costs of settling into a new home.

A third £300 ‘New Scots Support into Work Grant’ will be launched soon to encourage people from minority ethnic backgrounds to continue living in Inverclyde by supporting their route into employment.

Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “Our population has been declining for a long time for a variety of factors, including falling birth rates and loss of big employers, and reversing that trend won’t happen overnight, but these new grants are the first baby steps in our repopulation strategy.

“We need to try and retain people who are already living in Inverclyde and discourage them from leaving the area, whether that’s for education, training or work, and we also need to encourage people from outwith Inverclyde to come and live here, and these new grants target both of those groups.

“Inverclyde is a fantastic place to live, work, visit and do business, and we hope these grants will help tackle some of the challenges with retaining and attracting people to the area.”

The grants will be distributed on a ‘first-come’ basis to people who meet the eligibility criteria over the next two years until July 2028 or until the available funding has been exhausted.

The council has allocated an initial £22,000 towards all three grant schemes.

The latest update from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) released on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, showed that in the year to mid-2025, the population fell in 20 of Scotland’s 32 council areas.

In Inverclyde, the population fell slightly by 190, or 0.2%, with an estimated population of 78,550 to June 30, 2025.

The decrease was due to natural change – more deaths (1,092) than births (571) – offset by net migration of 310, which is made up of people moving to Inverclyde from abroad or other parts of the UK.

In addition to the grants and as part of the repopulation strategy, the council has taken on a dedicated community repopulation officer.

For more information about the grants, eligibility criteria and to find out how to apply, visit www.inverclyde.gov.uk/living