Tag: affordable housing

Government announces increased funding for affordable homes

Scotland’s councils are to share more than £3.2 billion in grant funding over five years to deliver more affordable homes. 

Local authorities will benefit from an increase of more than £541 million on the previous five year allocation – an uplift of more than 20%.

Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “We have already delivered more than 102,000 affordable homes since 2007. Building on this, our aim is to deliver 100,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70% of these for social rent.

“Meeting this ambition will require continued collaboration across the private and public sectors. I’m pleased to be increasing significantly the available affordable housing grant funding for council areas to help with this important work.

“The five-year allocations will provide the certainty and assurance the housing sector needs to deliver the ambitious affordable homes target set out in our Housing to 2040 strategy.”

COSLA Resources spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to contributing to the cost of affordable housing in Scotland. The priority for councils, and housing associations, is ensuring rent affordability and warm, safe, comfortable homes for current and future tenants.

“As we look to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, councils are working side by side with their communities.  We maintain a focus on our shared ambitions around tackling child poverty and climate change, alongside building more houses.”

The City of Edinburgh Council also welcomes the announcement from Scottish Government on a five-year funding package for local authorities and housing associations in Scotland to deliver new affordable homes.

Over the next five years Edinburgh will receive £233.8m grant funding from a pot of more than £3.2 billion announced today which will be shared across all Scottish council areas.

Edinburgh is one of the most pressured housing markets in the country and needs more affordable homes to meet the needs of its growing population.  

City of Edinburgh Council’s Convener for Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work, Councillor Kate Campbell said: “This announcement of £233.8m funding for housing in Edinburgh from the Scottish Government over the next five years is hugely welcome. Having certainty over future funding puts us in a strong position to continue building that pipeline of social and affordable homes that we so desperately need.

“This will allow us to plan ahead and acquire sites, design and develop new homes and appoint contractors. And not only do we have certainty, we also have an increase of almost £44m from our baseline allocation over the last five years.

“Having recently met with the Cabinet Secretary to set out the challenges in Edinburgh, and the further investment we need, this is a positive response.

“We’ve also consistently received in-year allocations of extra funding when other local authorities have had underspends in their grant. Over the last five years this has amounted to about £40m. Our aim is to continue making the case for any future underspends to come to Edinburgh by making sure that we continue our strong track record on delivery of homes.

“And, because the need for permanent, secure and affordable housing in our city is so great, we’ll also continue to make the case for additional funding for Edinburgh from the national housing budget. But having certainty for the next five years, and an increase in funding, puts us in a fantastic position just now, and gives us a really strong platform to build from.”

Vice Convener for Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work, Councillor Mandy Watt, said: “We have ambitious plans to grow the number of homes we own, which we’ll do by purchasing homes and by building homes through our own housing development programme.

“Alongside this, we’ve got to find ways to deliver more affordable housing through our planning policies. Currently, the minimum amount of land for affordable homes is 25% of any major development. We are proposing that the minimum allocation is increased to 35%.

“As a Council, we’re committed to ending poverty and becoming more sustainable. Our house building programme will make a major contribution towards achieving that.”

Affordable Housing: ‘Scotland has been leading the way’

More than 100,000 affordable homes delivered – since 2007

Scotland has delivered more than 100,000 affordable homes since 2007, marking a major milestone on the path to a fairer, more equal nation.

Statistics published today show that 102,055 affordable homes have been delivered since April 2007, with 70,866 of these for social rent.

Scotland delivered over 75% more affordable homes per head of population than both England and Wales in the four years to 2019-20, and over nine times more social rented homes per head than in England during the same period.

Housing Secretary Shona Robison said yesterday: “This is a remarkable achievement. Today’s statistics tell the story of more than 100,000 households being given access to high-quality, affordable homes – whether they be for social rent or people owning a home for the first time.

“I would like to thank registered social landlords, local authorities, the construction sector and our other partners for helping us hit this significant milestone.

“Scotland has been leading the way across the UK with delivery of affordable housing, but we know there is more to do to ensure everyone has a warm, affordable home that meets their needs in a vibrant, safe community.

“Our utmost priority over the past year has been to keep Scotland safe from Coronavirus (COVID-19), and this has meant placing restrictions on construction or at times stopping it altogether.

“While this has affected our ability to meet our target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes over the last parliamentary period, we are continuing to work closely with partners across the housing sector to deliver the remaining homes as quickly as it is safe to do so.

“We will then deliver a further 100,000 homes by 2032, with at least 70% of these for social rent. This is just one of the actions set out in our Housing to 2040 strategy for building a fairer, more equal housing sector, alongside taking steps to tackle high rents in the private sector, setting a single set of standards for housing quality and accessibility, and continuing our work to end homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all.”

Living Rent: Gorgie Deserves Better protest today

We need more social and affordable housing, not more purpose-built student accommodation. Here’s what you can do to reject the planned development:

1. Come to the new Tynecastle High School at 1pm this Sunday 30th May. Bring signs and masks and follow the COVID guidelines to stay safe: 

https://fb.me/e/3nm2LPH55

2. Follow the instructions on our website to send a letter to S1 Developments and tell them what you think of the development directly. Make yourself heard! 

livingrent.org/objection

3. Join Living Rent to help organise and create change in your area: 

livingrent.org/join

Gorgie needs affordable housing! We deserve better!

Leith’s Fort is Affordable Housing Development of the Year

An ambitious 94 affordable homes project, which is creating a new community at Edinburgh’s Leith Fort, has been named as affordable development of the year at this year’s Homes for Scotland awards. Continue reading Leith’s Fort is Affordable Housing Development of the Year

£568 million for affordable housing

Increased funding to ensure councils can deliver more homes

More affordable homes will be delivered across Scotland this year following a £35 million increase to council allocations, bringing it to £568 million. The increases will continue over the coming years, rising to £591 million in 2019-20 and £630 million in 2020 -21.  Continue reading £568 million for affordable housing

Affordable housing: meeting the challenges that lie ahead

The housing sector and government will continue to work together to safeguard against the uncertainties created by Brexit and ensure affordable housing is available to all who need it, Communites Secretary Angela Constance will tell a conference today.

In a speech to the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference, Communities Secretary Angela Constance will reflect on a ‘decade of success’ on housing and regeneration, set out the challenges that lie ahead and how government and the housing sector might work together to respond.

The Cabinet Secretary will highlight:

  • The need to take action to address an ageing population, and ensuring more suitable housing and services to help individuals continue to live independently and at home
  • Tackling the damaging effects of UK Government’s welfare cuts, and meeting the challenge of combating child poverty
  • Safeguarding against the impact of Brexit, which could see a loss of 8.5% of GDP in Scotland by 2030 and threaten 5,000 EU citizens working in the construction sector

Speaking ahead of the conference Ms Constance said: “High quality affordable housing is about more than just bricks and mortar – it provides safe, warm homes, helps create a fairer Scotland, and delivers great economic benefits. As we look to the challenges that lie ahead, that will become ever more important.  

“The UK Government’s approach to Brexit threatens jobs, prosperity, and workers. Welfare cuts are plunging more people into poverty. And an ageing population presents big questions in how we support independent living and increase a flexible housing supply.

“Against that backdrop we are taking firm action. Since 2007 we have delivered almost 71,000 affordable homes and committed to delivering at least 50,000 over this Parliament, and we are spending £100 million a year protecting people from the worst impacts of the UK Government’s welfare cuts – cuts that threaten to push more children into poverty. But there is more we can and must do.

“We have given Councils long term planning assumptions totaling £1.75 billion to March 2021 – providing the guarantee needed to deliver our ambitions. As we look to beyond 2021, I want to begin engagement with the housing sector on the best ways to deliver affordable homes that meet the needs of our changing population. We will build on the great work already done as we take new and innovative approaches to ensure another decade of success.”

More Homes Scotland is the overarching approach to bring together all activity to increase supply

During her speech, Communities Secretary Angela Constance will set out a priority for everyone in Scotland to live in a high quality, sustainable home, which is affordable and meets their needs. Ms Constance will reiterate the importance of the four housing and regeneration outcomes and suggest how these might underpin the government’s approach:

  • A well-functioning housing system, where homes are first and foremost for living in, rather than for storing up wealth.
  • New and existing homes reaching high quality and sustainability standards, with all householders benefiting from the same high standards of accommodation and consumer protection.
  • Homes that meet people’s needs, with the housing market becoming more flexible to allow people to meet their changing needs, including new housing for older people.
  • Sustainable communities grow and develop, with people able to afford to stay in the communities they grew up in, if that is what they want.