Responding to today’s draft Budget announcement, Homes for Scotland Chief Executive Nicola Barclay said:

“The Scottish Government recognises the need to increase the delivery of new homes for the benefit of Scotland’s communities and economic growth but there is little in today’s statement to make this happen. 

“Whilst there is generous capital spend on the delivery of affordable homes, which is welcomed, our members tell us that it is harder than ever to commence new sites and get much needed homes of all tenures out of the ground.  

“This is borne out by key indicators published this week which showed a flatlining of housing completions at a level still some 40 per cent below that before the recession, as well as a worrying fall in the total number of homes being started, but there are, unfortunately, no new announcements to help unblock the system.

“In particular, we are disappointed that none of the £800m of capital budget consequentials from the Autumn Statement will be used to unlock development in Scotland, especially in relation to the provision of education infrastructure which is now one of the biggest blockers to housing delivery.

“We had requested the Scottish Government extend the five per cent banding of the Land & Buildings Transaction Tax given the impact this is having on house purchases above the current £325k ceiling.  Whilst we fully support the Scottish Government’s aim of helping First Time Buyers, we must ensure that the property ladder functions at all levels.  When aspirational buyers choose not to move, this prevents others further down the ladder from being able to do so.

“We note with interest the proposal to ‘modernise compulsory purchase orders to ensure vacant and derelict land can be brought into use for communities’. It is right that positive opportunities to intervene are fully explored for sites where landowners would struggle to bring development forward without support. This echoes Homes for Scotland’s views on the need to prioritise positive interventions over financial penalties which would be unlikely to help unviable sites.

”We also look forward to seeing the detail of the SME Holding Fund as we recognize that the SME sector of the housing industry has been disproportionately impacted by the downturn and requires support if it is going to grow and help deliver the many thousands of homes this country needs.”