You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Scottish government allocates £60m to buy empty and private sector homes for social and affordable housing
At least £60m will be made available for a national acquisition plan to increase the supply of social and affordable housing, the Scottish government has said.
The funding will support councils and registered social landlords to purchase properties, including empty homes and private sector homes.
The acquisition scheme was announced as part of first minister Humza Yousaf’s plans to reduce demand on temporary accommodation in Scotland.
Other measures will include working with social landlords to increase allocations to homeless households and providing national guidance for local authorities to support good practice around changing temporary accommodation into permanent affordable homes.
Bespoke plans to address specific issues will also be developed with the local authorities with the greatest temporary accommodation pressures, the Scottish government said.
The £60m funding for the national acquisition plan will be taken from the government’s 2023-24 Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
READ MORE
Local authorities will be able to use their existing resource planning assumptions to acquire properties for use as permanent affordable homes.
Mr Yousaf said that “a great deal of consideration has been given” to the best way to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation, following recommendations from a temporary accommodation taskforce that were given to ministers in March.
John Mills, co-chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers and co-chair of the government’s Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group, said he was “heartened by the Scottish government’s recognition of the seriousness of the current situation, the damage that is being done to many families living in temporary accommodation for long periods and the increasing challenges councils are facing in meeting their needs”.
He added that he was “particularly pleased by the commitment to a national acquisitions programme to bring more homes into social renting quickly”.
Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland and co-chair of the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group, said the first minister “is showing that he is serious about this emergency.”
She added: “Today’s announcement is the first step in the right direction to bring down the number of households in temporary accommodation from its current record high. It must not be the last.”
Sally Thomas, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, said: “Preventing homelessness is at the core of what housing associations and co-operatives do… [but] the core issue is that we simply do not have enough social homes.
“We cannot tackle homelessness in Scotland unless concerted efforts are made to build the affordable homes we desperately require – and right now we’re not on track to deliver those homes. We are looking to Scottish government to provide the leadership and planning necessary to meet urgent and growing housing need.”
