Construction firms raise fears over ministers’ target on affordable homes

● Latest Scottish Building Federation snapshot also reveals weak confidence

The Scottish Government is unlikely to meet its target of delivering 50,000 new affordable homes by 2021 without reforms to housing procurement, a report yesterday warned.

Releasing its latest construction monitor, trade body the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) also claimed that by focusing on price, current procurement practices would not deliver the “mix and quality of housing Scotland needs for the future”.

The headline conclusions werecontainedinthequarterly survey of the membership of SBF, which represents hundreds of building companies from Orkney to the Borders.

Respondents were asked how likely they think it is that the Scottish Government will achieve its target of delivering 50,000 new affordable homes over the lifetime of the current Parliament. More than three quarters said they thought it was “unlikely” that the Government would achieve the target.

Just 9 per cent of those quizzed said they thought the target was likely to be met, with a further 13 per cent of respondents predicting that the Government definitely will not meet this target.

Employers were also asked to rate how confident they feel about the prospects for their business over the next 12 months compared to the past year. For the second survey period in a row, industry confidence has been rated negative, at -3, though that was a marginal improvement on the previous rating of -5.

In addition, SBF members were asked a series of questions about their experience of housing procurement practices in Scotland.

Most reported that, based on this experience, procurement decisions tend to be taken mainly on the basis of price, with other considerations such as quality, the use of local subcontractors and the creation of local employment opportunities treated as much less of a priority.

In the future, respondents to the survey said they would like to see quality in particular given much greater priority in reaching housing procurement decisions.

SBF managing director Vaughan Hart said: “I think this latest negative confidence rating reflects the fact that the construction industry dislikes uncertainty and the reality is that we are currently living through very uncertain times.

He added: “There is obviously a genuine concern within the construction sector that, based on its current approach to procurement, the Scottish Government is not going to reach its affordable housing target.”