COUNCIL ‘MAKING REAL INROADS’
There have been almost 1,500 new affordable homes completed by the Council and its housing association partners in the last financial year – the most completions delivered in a single year since the Affordable Housing Supply Programme began.
In 2025/26 1473 houses were completed or purchased for use, beating the target of 1,368, while 994 homes were approved for construction. Work also started at 1,004 sites.
Almost £74m was spent on affordable housing in the last financial year, surpassing the previous high figure of £55m spent in a single financial year since the programme was introduced in 2007.
In February the Council agreed a record £1.6 billion investment in affordable homes and improved temporary accommodation as part of the Budget.
Spending will help address the city’s housing emergency by significantly increasing the supply of housing for those in need.
Councillor Tim Pogson, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “These figures are extremely encouraging, and demonstrate the progress being made towards meeting the huge demand for housing in Edinburgh.
“An enormous amount of planning and collaboration goes into delivering homes on this scale, so I’d like to thank officers and partners for coming together to achieve this.
“Of course, the Capital is still under significant pressure, with many living with housing need. However, I’m confident that with smart investment and partnership working we’ll continue to make real inroads into tackling these issues.”
Members of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee will be updated on progress on Tuesday, 12 May.
This includes 170 approvals, 140 site starts and 329 completions delivered through schemes that required little or no grant funding. Amongst these are the Scottish Government’s Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE), other forms of low-cost home ownership, mid-market rent and private sector led Build to Rent (BTR).
Site completions also encompass homes that were purchased using £28.685m of National Acquisition Programme funding for 2025/26. This allowed the purchase of 341 homes to alleviate temporary accommodation pressures.
Read more in the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee Business Bulletin.
