HOMES for Scotland has described the announcement by Scotland’s first minister of an £80 million uplift over the next two years for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) as ‘doing little to alleviate the glaring black hole’ in the AHSP budget and ‘absolutely nothing’ to increase the overall supply of homes.
Fionna Kell, director of policy at the sector body, said, “Whilst we, of course, welcome additional AHSP funding coming forward, the truth is that £80 million split over two years will do little to address the original 26% reduction of nearly £200 million this financial year.
“With four local authorities having declared housing emergencies and recent independent research highlighting that over a quarter of all Scottish households find themselves in some form of housing need, the sector is crying out for long-term investment certainty to be prioritised with the appropriate funding, resource and evidence-based regulation needed to address the intensifying housing crisis rather than short-term ad-hoc measures.
“It is in this context that we are calling on the first minister to carry out a comprehensive and holistic policy review to ensure we have a housing system that supports the delivery of high quality homes across all tenures to support ambitions for a just transition and wellbeing economy. Action to significantly increase new supply is fundamental to this.”
Homes for Scotland was responding to the Scottish Government’s announcement that efforts to boost affordable housing supply by acquiring properties to bring into use for affordable housing and help reduce homelessness will be given an £80 million uplift over the next two years.
The funding, announced by first minister Humza Yousaf on a visit to Hillcrest Housing Association’s Derby Street development in Dundee, will increase the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget to nearly £600 million in 2024-2025.
Humza Yousaf said, “Housing is essential in our efforts to tackle child poverty and reduce inequality across Scotland, and it supports jobs and growth in the economy. Providing good quality, affordable housing is at the very core of what my Government is doing to make Scotland a better place.
“While there is a single person homeless in our country, it is simply not acceptable to have houses sitting empty – so I am determined that we remove the barriers, and provide the money that will enable councils to buy properties so they can become affordable homes again.
“This £80 million will build on the success of our National Acquisition Programme which I announced last year, which spent more than £60 million and delivered more than 1,000 affordable homes. This is one of a number of actions we are prioritising to help to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation. We will also accelerate discussion with COSLA in relation to the number of empty council homes.”
