Scottish Government announces significant new funding and MMR exemption following SFHA calls 

The Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Mairi McAllan MSP, this week announced a number of actions designed to help tackle the housing emergency. After a significant period of influencing with officials, politicians and within the press, SFHA is pleased to confirm that measures on increased and long-term funding, MMR and homelessness prevention are being taken forward. 

The Scottish Government’s Housing Emergency Action Plan (HEAP) set out their plans to reduce the number of children living in unsuitable accommodation, support the most vulnerable people at risk of homelessness, and to maximise investment in the housing sector.  

As well as sustained lobbying on a series of measures we wanted to see in the plan, we had briefed the Government and housing spokespeople on the executive summary of our research into affordable housing need post-2026. The research projected gross affordable housing requirement for Scotland 2026-31 is 15,693 homes annually. We also provided an indicative AHSP budget to meet affordable housing need, which we estimate to be £1.64bn annually, and £8.20bn over the next Scottish Parliament in today’s prices. You can read the full executive summary here. 

We were pleased to see that Scottish Government paid notice to this and have also listened to our repeated calls for long-term funding, pledging to ‘deliver up to £4.9 billion of investment over the coming four-years, with homes delivered through a mixture of public and privately leveraged investment’. Further details on this will be laid out in the Spending Review which will be published alongside the Scottish Budget and SFHA will be seeking further detail as soon as possible.  

An increase in investment in the acquisitions fund from £40m to £80m this financial year was also set out.  

On MMR, following our collective calls and evidence, the Government has stated that ‘In principle, we intend to exempt, where appropriate, Mid-Market Rent’ from the Housing Bill’s rent control provisions. Again, we will be seeking more detail on this, however final detail will be set out in regulations following the passage of the Bill.   

On tenancy sustainment measures, there were some welcome announcements on Housing First following representations from SFHA, Homeless Network Scotland and Crisis. The Government has pledged to invest in a geographically targeted expansion scheme through a £3m capital grant. This will allow registered social landlords to acquire suitable properties for Housing First tenancies. Alongside this there will be a £1m uplift to Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan funding for 2025-26. The Funding will also be extended into 2026-27.  

You can read our press comment here, which was covered by BBC and STV. Members have received a full briefing.