Drop in number of homes that are affordable

The number of affordable homes approved in Scotland has plummeted by more than a third during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were 7,972 affordable homes approved between June 2020 and June this year, compared with 12,376 the previous year, a drop of 36%. Scottish Labour housing spokesperson Mark Griffin said: “Scotland’s affordable housing shortage is right at the heart of the growing housing crisis we’re facing.

“We are already playing catch-up after the SNP’S disastrous failure to meet last term’s target. These plummeting figures risk knocking us even further off course and creating an affordable housing time-bomb further down the line. The SNP’S track record makes clear that their new targets aren’t worth the paper they’re written on without a real plan for delivery.

“It is essential that we get things back on track to deliver the affordable housing we so desperately need.”

The Scottish Government said it had delivered more than 100,000 affordable homes since taking power in 2007. A spokesperson for Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “The Covid pandemic has understandably had a deep impact on Scotland’s housing sector with two lockdowns slowing construction – but Scotland still leads the way among UK nations with the Conservatives in England and Labour in Wales not coming close to our record of delivery. The SNP government has delivered over 103,000 affordable homes since 2007 – in stark contrast to the shameful record of the last Labour-lib Dem administration in Scotland which built just six new council homes between 2000 and 2007 – and we have ambitious plans to go further.”