SFHA Welcomes Big Boost for Housing in Scottish Budget

Following the announcement by Cabinet Secretary for Finance John Swinney that the Scottish Government is to restore a large part of the planned cut to affordable housing in the Scottish Budget, the SFHA said it was important recognition  of the vital economic and social importance of good housing.

The planned 30% cut to the affordable housing supply budget has been restored by 12%, following sustained lobbying by the SFHA and others (1).

An additional £80m will now be invested in new affordable homes over the next three years.

Mary Taylor, Chief Executive of the SFHA said:

"We very much welcome this afternoon's announcement the Scottish Government is to restore a large part of the planned cut to the affordable housing budget, a budget which was set to suffer one of the biggest cuts anywhere in government. This is a difficult economic climate and we are pleased that housing's share of overall budget cuts is now less dramatic.

"The Scottish Government has recognised the power of the arguments for investment in housing to have a beneficial effect on the economy, job creation and apprenticeships, as well as vital social benefits that improved living conditions bring - whether in education, health, or tackling fuel poverty.

"Underlying all that is the huge need for affordable housing (with 335,000 households on housing association and co-operative housing waiting lists in Scotland (2)).

Dr Taylor concluded:

"We're pleased that the Scottish Government has listened to these arguments today and as such SFHA will continue to champion the need for sufficient, good quality, affordable and energy efficient housing to be a priority for Scotland."

 

ends

For further information, contact Claire Munro on t: 0141 567 6244 m: 07771926778 or e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Visit our website at www.sfha.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter @sfha_hq
Find us on Facebook SFHA- We're Housing Scotland

NOTES:

1) The overall amount of funding available for new investment in housing, according to the 2012-15 Draft Scottish Budget, was set to be cut by 30% in 2012-13, and by nearly 50% in total the first two years of the programme. In the final Budget these cuts have been partially overturned, by an average 12%.

12% increase based on assumption that TMDF (Glasgow and Edinburgh) programmes for 2013-15, which are yet to be announced, will be in line with cuts to AHSP.

2) Statistics supplied to SFHA by the Scottish Housing Regulator (5 July 2011) based on data in the 2009-10 Annual Performance and Statistical Return

3) The SFHA was established in 1975 and has around 170 members providing affordable housing and wider community services in Scotland, as well as a further 200 commercial members. The SFHA is owned by its membership and exists to support the work of housing associations and co-operatives in Scotland by providing services, advice and good practice guidance.

4) The SFHA is the voice of the principal builders and managers of new affordable housing for rent in Scotland. Housing Associations own and manage around 40% of the country's affordable rented housing stock, over a quarter of a million homes across Scotland.

5) Housing associations and co-operatives are not-for-profit bodies regulated by the Scottish Housing Regulator.

 

< Prev		Next >