MORE action is needed to deliver affordable housing across Scotland, according to a new report, despite progress being made by the Scottish Government.
The Chartered Institute of Housing’s 2019 UK Housing Review Autumn Briefing Paper, published today, showed that just over 50% of the overall target of 50,000 affordable homes had been met by the end of 2018/19.
That figure rose to 61% in terms of approvals. The Scottish Government planned to deliver the affordable houses over five years to 2021 – 35,000 of them for social rent. The report has also called for a sharp increase in completions.
Brexit uncertainty and its potential implications could also affect the situation, it added, with questions over future funding.
Callum Chomczuk, CIH Scotland director, said: “While we are pleased that the Scottish Government’s commitment to affordable housing supply is providing good quality homes across the whole of Scotland, we have deep concerns about future funding arrangements. The 50,000 homes target represented a significant increase in funding for new homes and as we can see from the figures, it has taken the sector several years to build up the capacity to deliver homes in the volume we need.
“We have had no indication of what funding levels will be after next year and there’s a danger that social landlords will simply have to stop building. The 50,000 target is just beginning to make up for the loss of affordable homes through right to buy and demolitions of old stock.”
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