Joint call on affordable homes

Four national charities, including Scottish Churches Housing Action, have written to Margaret Burgess MSP, Minister for Housing and Welfare, with a joint call to set an ambitious target for new affordable homes across Scotland. Shelter Scotland, Homeless Action Scotland, Rural Housing Scotland and Scottish Churches Housing Action all believe that the next Parliament, following the 2016 Holyrood elections, should see an upswing in provision of homes for those in need. This is a particular issue on Arran.

“During the Westminster election campaign,” says Scottish Churches Housing Action Chief Executive Alastair Cameron, “the First Minister called on the UK Government to set a target of 100,000 new affordable homes a year across Britain.  This would imply about 10,000 new affordable homes in Scotland each year, creating employment opportunities as well as meeting housing need.  Housing investment is a devolved matter, so Scotland’s contribution to meeting this target needs decisive action at Holyrood.

“We agree that austerity government is not the way forward; we look forward to seeing the Scottish Government build our way to a better future for young people seeking a home, for people who need to move to take up work, and for families and individuals stuck in homelessness”.

The Scottish Government’s current target for affordable housing in Scotland is 30,000 new homes – or 6,000 per year – over the five years of the current Parliament, 2011-16.  The four organisations believe that targets set by the next Scottish Government should be more ambitious.