The potential for increasing social inequality as a result of undersupply in the housing market was highlighted today in the wake of the publication of two new reports.

That was the projection of industry body Homes for Scotland as new research suggests that half of Scots no longer believe they will buy their own home and official forecasts predict a 13 per cent rise in the number of households across the country in the next 25 years.

Director of Policy Karen Campbell said:

“With First Time Buyers right across the country finding it a challenge to get on the housing ladder, the single biggest pressure on house prices and rents remains lack of supply.

“Whilst there was a welcome increase in the total number of housing completions last year, this remains 30% down on pre-recession levels and equates to just 806 extra new homes on 2016 – a drop in the ocean in relation to the number of new households that are now projected to be formed, particularly by older people. 

“We therefore need to better enable the delivery of new homes and avoid further widening the gap between the housing “haves” and “have nots” so it is crucial that local authorities and industry work together to ensure communities get the full range of homes of all tenures they need to sustain themselves and their economies.  This requires ensuring the viability of development and, in relation to meeting the needs of our younger and older populations, ensuring that smaller homes are not disproportionately more expensive to build.”