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NewsArticle-21-04-2011

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Parties debate the future of housing in Scotland

Representatives from Scotland's four main political parties gathered to debate the future of housing in front of a specially invited audience of senior figures from the industry on the evening of Tuesday 19 April.

This special election hustings, hosted jointly by NHBC (National House Building Council) and Homes for Scotland and chaired by BBC Scotland's Gary Robertson, provided an opportunity for representatives from the housing industry to quiz Scotland's political parties on how they would meet Scotland's housing needs.

The parties were represented by Alex Neil (SNP), Mary Mulligan (Scottish Labour Party), Richard Sullivan (Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party) & Kenn Elder (Scottish Liberal Democrats). Each was given an opportunity to set out their party's policy on housing before a Q&A session.

During a lively but good natured debate a surprising degree of consensus emerged between the parties on how to meet the challenges facing the industry.Such was the level of agreement that the SNP's Alex Neil and Labour's Mary Mulligan's main argument centred around claiming that they had each stolen each others policies.

All of the candidates agreed that getting bank lending to both the house building industry and to potential homeowners was key to the industry's recovery.There was also agreement that getting First Time Buyers back into the market was crucial.Labour, the SNP and Liberal Democrats have all pledged to introduce a mortgage indemnity scheme for First Time Buyers while the Conservatives agreed such a scheme deserved serious consideration.

The candidates also faced close questioning from the audience over the increasing cost of tighter building regulations to reduce carbon emissions in new housing.Alex Neil, Mary Mulligan and Kenn Elder all expressed sympathy for house builders on this issue and promised to take seriously the industry's concerns when changes to Scottish building standards are considered again in 2013. However, they also made it clear that moving towards zero carbon housing was an important goal and one that has wider benefits for homeowners. Richard Sullivan was more supportive, expressing scepticism over some of the measures being introduced to reduce carbon emissions.

Scottish Director, NHBC Malcolm MacLeod said:

"We were delighted to host last night's election hustings along with Homes for Scotland. Housing is one of the key issues in this election and tonight was an important opportunity not just for Scotland's political parties to set out how it will meet Scotland's housing needs but also for representatives from across the housing sector to tell the politicians what action they believe the next Scottish Government should take on housing."

Homes for Scotland Chief Executive Jonathan Fair (right) said:

"A vibrant and growing housing sector is vital to the health of Scotland's economy. Before the credit crunch, the industry was the largest source of private investment in the Scottish economy, contributing around £6bn and directly impacting the employment of 100,000 people. Tonight's debate showed that Scotland's political parties understand the importance of house building to the economy and are prepared to work with the industry to help ensure we can meet the challenges it faces."

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