SECTOR body Homes for Scotland (HFS) has welcomed the announcement from the Scottish Government of a 56% funding increase for the 2025-26 housing budget, including a 38% rise in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
Responding to finance secretary Shona Robison’s budget statement, HFS chief executive Jane Wood said, “Given the significant challenges which have arisen as a result of the cuts to this year’s budget, including the stalling of 7,500 much-needed homes of all tenures, the reinstatement of this funding for 2025-26 is a welcome boost in the context of the national housing emergency that was declared earlier this year.
“While the damage of this year’s cuts cannot be undone overnight, the Scottish Government must now focus on the many other wide-ranging delivery blockers that exist to maximise the benefits and potential of this new funding. This needs to happen at the pace which a national housing emergency necessitates, with detail now required on how the newly proposed Housing Planning Hub will be implemented and clarity needed on the outcomes of key consultations (such as the Building Safety Levy and Accessible Homes Standard) which have the potential to considerably increase costs.
“As the cabinet secretary for finance and local government said herself today, the Scottish Government, given the scale of the housing challenge must ‘look at all the levers available’. HFS and its members stand ready to play their full part to move Scotland from a position of housing emergency to one in which all those who live here have the range and choice of homes that meet their needs and that they can afford.”
