NewsArticle-20-10-2008

Responding to yesterday’s clarification on the Scottish Government’s support package to help First Time Buyers, the home building industry has called for the temporary extension of the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot (part of the Low-Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers) to become a permanent feature of the Affordable Housing Investment Programme and for the immediate acceleration of all such funding if any kind of difference is to be made to the country’s falling housing supply.

The Scottish Government announcement that the scheme, previously only available in ten local authority areas, will be extended across the whole of Scotland for one year and will have an increased budget of £60m in 2009/2010, follows Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s June statement that the Scottish Government would be spending £250m to support First Time Buyers.

Jonathan Fair, Chief Executive of Homes for Scotland, the organisation which represents companies building 95% of the country’s new homes, said:

“The Scottish Government’s recognition of people’s continued aspirations to own their own home is very welcome, as is any measure which helps stimulate the housing market, particularly for First Time Buyers who play such a key role. However, the increased budget allocation announced yesterday for 2009/2010 represents reprioritised spending, not new money. With new build output falling by as much as 70% in the last quarter, what we need to see is massive acceleration of funding on a permanent basis NOW if a housing crisis is to be averted in future years.”

Enquiries to:

Beth Hocking, Homes for Scotland – 0131 455 8350 / 07946 421521
Jennifer Kennedy, Homes for Scotland – 0131 455 8350 / 07763 240694

Note to Editors:

Homes for Scotland represents the country’s home building industry which:
- is the largest source of private investment in Scotland
- is the largest user of the planning system in Scotland
- last year built 20,000 new homes, contributed £6bn to the economy and directly impacted the employment of 100,000 people