THE number of affordable homes being started for build has dropped to the lowest annual level for eight years - despite calls for action in a homelessness crisis.
Builds on 6,302 affordable homes were begun in the year to the end of September as part of an official programme - but that is a 24% drop (1,996 homes) on the 7,159 started in the last annual analysis.
Government analysis shows that that is the lowest annual figure to the end of September since 2015.
And the number of homes being approved for build remains at its lowest level for ten years.
Some 6,178 homes were given the nod for grant funding in the year to the end of September as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme - down by 14% (981 homes) on the 7159 approved in the previous year and the lowest equivalent annual figure since 2013.
It has led to new concerns over a potential failure to meet a Scottish Government target over the provision of affordable homes.
It comes as campaigners today called for more money to be ploughed into social housing to meet First Minister’s ‘defining mission’ to tackle child poverty.
The First Minister was warned his mission to tackle poverty is at risk as the number of affordable homes being started fell.
An open letter to the First Minister from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and the Poverty Alliance, alongside major social justice organisations, outline evidenced that building social homes is a key part of lowering child poverty rates.
They call on the Scottish Government to address the £700 million that they say "has been eroded" from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) due to inflation, as part of the Scottish budget. They are concerned that approvals for new-build affordable homes continued to decline from the previous year despite almost quarter-of-a-million people being on a waiting list for social housing.
The Scottish Government has a target of 110,000 affordable homes to be built by 2032, 70% of which to be social rents.
Sally Thomas, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations said: “Delivering the social homes we need is central to the Scottish Government’s guiding mission of ending the injustice of poverty.
“We know that up to 20,000 children across Scotland are kept out of poverty because of social housing, but with a further 10,000 children stuck in the insecurity of temporary accommodation and the devastating effects that has on their wellbeing and life chances, it is more than urgent that the Scottish Government begins to address the £700 million funding gap in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
“The Scottish Government’s current target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 is not just stalling, but is in reverse. Failing to increase the Affordable Housing Supply Programme will not only see this target become an impossible dream, but it will plunge households across the country further into poverty.”
The calls for a £700 million increase to the AHSP were echoed by the Poverty Alliance who said that this month’s budget represented an opportunity for the Scottish Government to increase its investment in social housing and lift thousands of children out of poverty.
Peter Kelly, director of The Poverty Alliance, said: “Having a safe, secure, warm home is one of our most basic needs. It lays the foundation for many other human needs to be met. But Scotland is facing a housing emergency. “If urgent action isn't taken, it will make it much more difficult for Scotland to meet its child poverty targets, and to give people the freedom and stability they need to build a life beyond the injustice of poverty.
“The Scottish Government can invest in a fairer future, and fund the social homes that people so desperately need.”
Shelter Scotland said during the summer that ministers were choosing to "neglect" social housing and warned that if ministers failed to pick up the sluggish pace of social housing delivery, Scotland’s housing emergency would continue to get worse.
Last year the Scottish Government met its target of building 50,000 affordable homes a year later than expected.
Official analysis showed that the ambition was achieved in March 2022, after 9,757 affordable homes were delivered in 2021/22 – the highest figure in a single financial year since 2000/01.
The original timescale of delivery by March 2021 was said to have been hit by “significant challenges” presented by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
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