Funding increase will help deliver affordable housing
The drive to increase the supply of affordable homes will be supported by £826 million through the 2019/20 Scottish Budget.
The funding will be made available through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and is a £70 million increase on the current year.
Latest statistics show that, since 2007, more than 80,000 affordable homes have been delivered including 54,537 for social rent, 19,553 for affordable home ownership, and 6,014 for affordable rent.
Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “At the heart of our ambition for a Fairer Scotland is that everyone has access to a safe, warm and affordable place to call home.
“This increased budget forms part of the single biggest investment in, and delivery of, affordable housing since devolution with over £3 billion committed which will deliver good quality, secure and affordable homes , which will in turn help create strong, sustainable communities.
“We have set an ambitious target to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the course of this Parliament, including 35,000 for social rent and are making good progress towards that. By ensuring councils and housing associations have financial certainty we are confident that this commitment can be fulfilled.”
Official published statistics on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme show that 58,427 of the 80,000 affordable homes delivered since 2007 have been new build, with the balance being 16,508 off the shelf purchases and 5,169 rehabilitations.
While any increase in social housing is welcome, the scale of the short-fall is staggering.
In 2017-18, 34,972 homeless applications were made, and 28,792 households were assessed as homeless by their local authority. This equates to a household losing their home every 18 minutes.
There are currently more than 140,000 households on local authority housing waiting lists across Scotland.
Just last week, new research revealed around 7,000 fewer homes a year are being built than are needed.
The BBC study found there was a 5,000 shortfall in the number of new homes built last year and that figure rises to 7,000 if the extra homes needed to catch up with the backlog are included.
Campaigners say at least 23,000 new homes a year are needed.
Sally Thomas, the chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations said: “While the finding of a 7,000 annual shortage in new housing is a wake-up call, it is not a complete shock.
“We know that many people now struggle to buy a home, as house prices have increased much faster than average wages, and private renting has tripled since 1999, leading to an affordability gap.”
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