Edinburgh Council’s housing chief has urged Scotland’s new first minister to ensure building more affordable homes is a top priority for his government.
Cllr Jane Meagher said she hoped the new First Minister, John Swinney, would “see the light” and consider the economic and social advantages of a mass housebuilding programme.
Swinney was sworn in on Wednesday morning and within hours was being urged by campaigners to take urgent action on housing.
Charities and anti-poverty groups, including Shelter and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, said reversing a £200m cut to the affordable housebuilding programme should be at the top of his list.
This cut means that Edinburgh – one of several local authorities to declare a housing emergency – receive £11m less than anticipated, leading the council to announce that approving any new affordable homes in the next year is “unlikely”.
In an appeal to the new First Minister, Cllr Meagher said: “Consider the economic advantages of a house building programme.
“Consider the social advantages of a housebuilding programme, think of the health advantages of a housebuilding programme. And think about how that in itself reinvigorates the whole of the Scottish economy and think about that as a priority.”
She added: “I hope he’ll see the light and realise what’s really for the benefit of this country.”
Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said: “For no new social homes to be approved in Edinburgh in the coming year would be shameful; we should be accelerating the delivery of social housing not slamming the breaks on.
“The new First Minister said tackling child poverty will be his ‘driving mission’; if he’s serious about that then he has to start by driving up the delivery of social homes.”
Ms Watson said restoring the housing budget would be a “welcome first step” but added: “That alone will not be enough”.
Last month, just days before quitting as first minister, Humza Yousaf pledged £80m for affordable housing over two years.
“They took £200m out of the affordable housing supply….then in April announced allegedly £80m but over two years,” Cllr Meagher said. “So they took £200m, put £40m back and think that’s a good thing.”
The housing convener said there was also a responsibility for developers to “think more creatively about the kind of communities they’re going to be building in Edinburgh”.
She said: “One of the main things we need is social housing to rent.
“We’ve got the land – it’s a common myth we have a shortage of land, we don’t.
“Developers are not particularly interested in that because it doesn’t make them enough money, but we have included in our new City Plan a requirement for developers to provide 35 per cent of social housing, an increase on the 25 per cent we currently have.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland has delivered more than 128,000 affordable homes since April 2007, over 90,000 of which were for social rent. We will invest nearly £600 million in affordable housing in 2024-25, the majority of which will be for social rent. This includes up to an additional £40 million in 2024-25 and an equivalent commitment in 2025-26 to increase affordable housing supply and help reduce homelessness.
“We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and to support that we have brought forward a review to this year, which will concentrate on deliverability. We are also working with the financial community in Scotland, and elsewhere, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes.”
by Donald Turvill, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
