One-off grants of up to £400 have been introduced to encourage people to remain in or move to Inverclyde, where the population has fallen by about 22,000 since 1981.
Inverclyde Council has launched two small grant schemes as part of an attempt to reverse decades of population decline.
The £400 Relocation Grant is intended to help people moving into Inverclyde, including those already living in temporary accommodation who are moving into a permanent home.
A separate £300 Stay and Study Grant was introduced for residents who travel outside the council area for education, training or an apprenticeship but continue to live locally.
A third payment, the £300 New Scots Support into Work Grant, is due to be launched for people from minority ethnic communities facing costs associated with preparing for work, training or employment.
The grants are being awarded on a first-come basis until July 2028 or until the available money is exhausted. Inverclyde Council has allocated an initial £22,000 across the three schemes.
The Stay and Study scheme attracted applications rapidly. By 20 July, four days after the grants were publicly announced, the council said applications had closed because of high demand. Applications already received will be assessed in order, while residents can register an interest in case money becomes available later. The Relocation Grant remained open on the council’s Inverclyde Living page.
At the advertised rates, the £22,000 allocation would fund between about 55 and 73 awards if it were spent entirely on the grants. The final number will depend on the balance between the £300 and £400 payments and any other costs charged to the fund.
Council leader Stephen McCabe described the payments as the “first baby steps” in a wider repopulation strategy.
He said Inverclyde needed to retain residents who might otherwise leave for education or employment while also encouraging people from elsewhere to settle in the area.
Population fell despite more people moving in
National Records of Scotland estimated Inverclyde’s population at 78,550 on 30 June 2025, a fall of 190 people, or 0.2%, over the previous year.
The decrease was caused principally by the gap between births and deaths. There were 571 births and 1,092 deaths during the year, producing a natural population loss of 521.
Net migration added an estimated 310 people, meaning more people moved into Inverclyde from elsewhere in Scotland, the rest of the UK or overseas than moved away. That inward movement offset much of the natural decline but was not sufficient to prevent the population falling overall.
The pattern is not unique to Inverclyde. Population fell in 20 of Scotland’s 32 council areas during the year to mid-2025, while deaths exceeded births in all but Glasgow and Midlothian. Scotland’s overall population grew by fewer than 2,200 people, with migration continuing to compensate for a national excess of deaths over births.
Decline followed loss of industrial employment
Inverclyde’s population challenge stretches back much further than the latest annual figures.
The council’s repopulation strategy says the area has lost approximately 22,000 residents since 1981. Between 1998 and 2023, its population fell by 8.5%, described in the strategy as the sharpest decline recorded by any Scottish local authority over that period, while Scotland’s population grew by around 8%.
Greenock and Port Glasgow expanded around maritime trade, engineering and shipbuilding. Greenock’s harbour grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, while shipyards and related industries became major employers along the Clyde.
The contraction of heavy industry during the later 20th century required the area to move towards electronics, services, tourism and other employment. Inverclyde Council identifies the legacy of deindustrialisation, economic restructuring, housing problems and the movement of younger residents elsewhere for work and study as continuing causes of depopulation.
The decline briefly appeared to ease when migration produced population growth in 2023 and 2024. The return to a small fall in 2025 shows how dependent the area has become on attracting new residents to counter its low birth rate and ageing population.
The council’s strategy says approximately 23% of residents are aged 65 or over, compared with about 20.5% across Scotland, while Inverclyde has smaller proportions of children and working-age residents than the national average.
The new payments are therefore one limited part of a broader programme rather than a complete response to the area’s demographic position. The council has appointed a community repopulation officer and says its longer-term work will include housing, employment, business support, regeneration, place marketing and research into why younger residents leave.
The immediate test will be whether the grants help recipients remain in Inverclyde or settle there for the long term. The rapid closure of the Stay and Study scheme indicates demand for assistance, but the initial £22,000 allocation means its direct reach will remain limited.
