News article 20/12/2012

(Issued 20 December 2012) 
 

Home building industry body Homes for Scotland welcomed yesterday’s announcement by Finance Secretary John Swinney of a £205 million package of ‘shovel-ready’ construction and maintenance projects, while urging the Scottish Government to keep housing at the top of the political agenda in order to maximise the country’s economic prospects.

The announcement follows on the back of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement in which £394 million of additional capital funding for Scotland was detailed.

The economic stimulus will see an estimated 2,000 jobs supported across Scotland in 2013-14 and includes £50 million for affordable housing. Local Government will receive over £46 million to support capital projects which are ready to be rolled out and additional to their current investment plans.

Homes for Scotland previously called for as much of the additional funding as possible to be ploughed into providing housing which is so desperately required across all tenures the length and breadth of the country.

Chief Executive Philip Hogg said:

“Yesterday’s announcement provides some welcome news at the end of what has been a year of continuing challenge for our industry.

“This package of measures indicates that the Scottish Government recognises the importance of the housing industry to growth and that it is committed to addressing housing need at a time when Scotland is in the midst of its worst housing crisis since the Second World War with a total of only 15,000 new homes built in 2011. This is despite 160,000 people being on housing waiting lists, households growing at a rate of more than 21,000 per annum and our population being at its highest ever level.

“We look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government over the coming year in order to adopt a pragmatic approach to alleviating the on-going pressures of our industry. In particular, we would urge the Scottish Government to halt the proposed changes to Building Standards, which threaten to add up to £8,700 on to the cost of building a new home, at a time when it is crucial that we achieve an increase in output while creating and preserving vital jobs.”