CIH Scotland welcomes new affordable housing funding

The Scottish Government announced on Wednesday that it is adding £20m to its 2012/13 housing spend and bringing forward money from both 2013/14 and 2014/15 so that more housing can be approved this year.

 David Bookbinder, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at CIH Scotland, said:

“As happened when the three year housing budget was finalised in February, it’s hugely welcome to see housing being a significant beneficiary of new money identified within the overall Scottish Government budget. It shows that Ministers and the Cabinet as a whole really get the message about what new housing provision can do for the economy as well as what it does to help address acute housing need.

“The accelerated funding is also a welcome boost, but there’s obviously payback on this in that it reduces the budget for the next two years. One anxiety we have is the risk that this reduction in years 2 and 3 of the programme means that there’s a lower starting point when the next spending round is under negotiation. We know that the Housing Minister is aware of this possibility and wants to avoid it, so our main task is to convince Mr Swinney that bringing forward this money should not be seen as reducing the baseline budget as we approach the next spending review discussions.

”We also recognise that the Scottish Government’s indication that the £35m will bring 650 new homes is very much an estimate, as it can’t yet be predicted what spending proposals local authorities will come up with in conjunction with their RSL partners. The average subsidy per unit needed to bring about 650 new homes would be £18,500, so even with a broad tenure mix, this could be challenging.”

Contact: David Bookbinder – 07950 684153