Almost £48m to be invested in affordable housing projects in Perth and Kinross

Perth and Kinross will benefit from a near £48 million investment in affordable housing, it’s been revealed.

The money is part of an overall pot of £1.75 billion announced by the Scottish Government, with the cash distributed across the country’s 32 local authorities.

It means that councils and housebuilders will have the opportunity to plan ahead with grant subsidies guaranteed for the next three years until 2021.

In the 2018-2019 financial year, £532m will be shared amongst local authorities – rising to £591m in 2019-20 and £630m in 2020-21.

Yesterday, Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, said she welcomed the £47.87m funding for affordable housing and said she feels the move will tackle “poverty and inequality” in Perth and Kinross.

She said: “The announcement that Perth and Kinross will receive nearly £50 million over the next three years provides the certainty that the area needs to keep progressing and ensures we keep up the momentum to reach the Scottish Government’s target of 50,000 new affordable homes by 2021.

“Increasing the supply of affordable homes plays a vital role in helping to tackle poverty and inequality in Perth and Kinross.”

She continued: “Committing funding until the end of this parliament will help ensure that Scotland leads the way in building homes that are high quality, efficient and affordable, and will strengthen our house-building sector along with the estimated 14,000 jobs that the affordable housing supply programme supports each year.

“Everyone in Scotland deserves a warm, affordable home and with a huge number of affordable homes approved last year, we are making great progress.”