Scotland’s home building industry has warmly welcomed today’s Scottish Government announcement of a new £50m infrastructure fund to help facilitate housing construction across all sectors.

Nicola Barclay, Chief Executive (right) of trade body Homes for Scotland, said:

“New homes are not built in isolation.  They need to be connected to existing facilities such as roads, water and drainage.  New residents also need to have access to local services like schools, medical facilities and public transport.

“The challenge for home builders, however, is that they are often asked to make large financial contributions to meet these costs up-front, before they have begun to build and sell the new homes.  This can present cash-flow issues and even make some developments unviable.

“We keenly await further details on today’s announcement but this national recognition of what is a massive barrier to the building of much needed new homes of all tenures is welcomed.  Together with the “More Homes Scotland” programme the Scottish Government also unveiled today, it represents a significant step forward in helping to increase supply and to meet the diverse housing needs and aspirations of our growing population.”