Housing

Making sure everyone in Scotland has access to good quality housing is a vital part of the Scottish Government’s drive to secure inclusive economic growth, promote social justice, strengthen communities, and tackle inequality.

Through the More Homes Scotland approach, the Scottish Government has introduced measures to support the increase in the supply of homes. Central to all of this work is that housing is about more than just bricks and mortar. Good housing helps to create communities, tackle the attainment gap, improve life opportunities, and regenerate the places we live.

There is a commitment from the Scottish Government to deliver 50,000 affordable homes by the end of this current Parliament and we are backing this target with investment of more than £3.3 billion. In doing this, not only will there be an increase in the supply of affordable housing, but the investment will leverage economic output of approximately £1.4 billion per annum and support 10,000 to 12,000 jobs in the construction and related industries across Scotland.

Support for housing includes a range of tenures with the majority of delivery being for social rent, however, a range of affordable rent and home ownership options are available. Alongside grant funding, the Scottish Government has developed mechanisms through the use of government guarantees, loans, grant recycling, and new sources of private funding to support delivery of close to 8,500 homes across all tenures and generate over £1 billion of housing investment.

The Scottish Government is boosting the supply of affordable housing by enabling City Deal commitments on housing, for instance, providing support to the City of Edinburgh Council to create a new city region housing company that is beginning to deliver a mix of 1,500 mid-market rent and full market rent homes. The Scottish Government also remains committed to supporting Councils, Housing Associations, and Developers to unlock sites through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.