SFHA Responds to 'Stark' Message on Housing

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 10:58

Following the Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil's delivery of a "stark" message on the financial future to housing associations and co-operatives earlier this month, the SFHA has responded to his frank and constructive speech. Mr Neil delivered the speech, which laid out the "stark" future facing public sector funding for housing at the SFHA's Annual Conference in Glasgow. Next year's housing budget however, will not be available until after the UK Government's Comprehensive Spending Review in October.

SFHA Chief Executive Mary Taylor said:

"Our members appreciated the frankness of the Minister's speech which dealt with the potentially huge impact of upcoming public spending cuts on the housing budget in Scotland.

"While we accept that the cuts pose a serious risk to any publicly-funded activity, the SFHA will be doing its best to minimise the impact of any cuts to our sector, which benefits the economy and society as a whole.

"Our members are doing an excellent job of providing the quality housing which people need and are working to do so in the most cost-effective manner. The number and range of creative ideas for funding new homes, submitted to the Government's housing policy discussion paper, demonstrates the innovation among housing associations.

"However, cuts don't just affect new-build homes, they affect issues such as quality, energy efficiency and the ability of housing providers to meet the 2012 homelessness commitments. In addition, the threat post to the large number of jobs linked to the housing industry has wider consequences for the economy.

"While we are willing to work closely with government to get more for less from housing budgets, we believe that the cuts should not put at risk our member organisations which house a quarter of a million families in Scotland."

Currently the Scottish Government provides an average £68,500 per unit through the Housing Association Grant to build new affordable homes for rent.