Building towards a fair future
THERE is a growing housing crisis in Scotland.
With overcrowding and a lack of suitable accommodation for families, Scotland not only needs more homes but more of the right homes.
For Labour, housing is a social justice issue – and always has been throughout our proud history.
Last week, we revealed how the SNP Government are underestimating social housing demand in Scotland.
While the Scottish Government estimate that there are 142,500 households on council waiting lists, this does not include people in the six local authorities who have transferred their stock to housing associations.
Our analysis shows the real figure is closer to 200,000.
It doesn’t have to be like this. Shelter Scotland have identified that 60,000 affordable homes need to be built by the end of this Parliament to address the housing shortage, a figure Scottish Labour committed to meet.
We want to see a national housebuilding strategy which sets out the numbers of houses to be built in each area and allows for proper planning and delivery.
We are also demanding that the SNP introduce tougher targets to make private rented homes more energy efficient.
Soaring energy costs and poorly insulated homes have pushed a third of those living in the private rented sector into fuel poverty.
We are setting an ambitious target to ensure that all private sector properties reach an Energy Performance Certificate rating of at least C by 2025.
This would help to reduce bills for families living in rented homes and help to tackle climate change.