In 1957, and in response to a chronic problem of slum housing in Glasgow, Glasgow Corporation, as it was then known, instigated a major renewal plan under which a third of the City was to be demolished. The famous 1968 storm created a state of chaos in Glasgow's tenement slums. With a state of emergency declared, a civil defence plan was introduced and emergency repairs were carried out to 15,000 affected tenement properties. Between 1965 and 1970 an estimated 25000 new public sector houses were built.

The 1969 Housing Act introduced a statutory duty on Local Authorities to bring all the homes in their boundaries below a tolerable standard up to standard, closed or demolished. In 1974 the Housing (Scotland) Act introduced grants for owners within these designated areas. In the same year Housing Association Grant was introduced to be administered by the Housing Corporation, the Government Agency charged with funding and monitoring Housing Associations.

This new legislation facilitated the creation of a new breed of Housing Associations which acted as buyers, developers and managers of tenement stock. Associations were to become the renewal agents for the City. The appropriate legal and financial frameworks had been set up which were critical to the development of organisations such as Govanhill Housing Association.

In the 1960's Govanhill lost tenements to the bulldozers, however, through community involvement the Association was registered in 1974. By 1977 100 homes had been improved, and in 1979 500. By 1983 the Association had celebrated the improvement of its 850th house and finished two new build projects. By 1990, the Association had celebrated the completion of 1500 tenement flats, and by 1992 completed streetscape projects and established Govanhill Community Development Trust, a subsidiary of the Association.

At the end of the decade the Association came full circle and began in earnest to carry out a comprehensive major repairs programme of the properties it originally refurbished.

With the improvement of other owners property also came the establishment of a Factoring Service. In recognition of the specific needs of minorities in the area the Association quickly adopted an equal opportunities approach to its work.

The Association established a second Subsidiary Company, Great Gardens Ltd, in 2008, for the purpose of environmental improvement and training. With the appropriate legal and financial infrastructure in place, with a community ownership and governance model in place the Association has a successful track record.