Shelter Scotland says SNP homes commitment not met
Thursday, 2 June 2011 3:38 PM
Shelter Scotland claimed today to have discovered a ‘black hole’ at the heart of the new SNP government’s commitment to add 6,000 new homes to its social housing stock in each year of the new parliament.
The housing charity said ministers had only allocated funds for the development of 1,550 new council and housing association properties this year, instead of the full figure.
The warning came ahead of a round-table summit, hosted by Shelter, at which housing sector leaders intended to discuss Scottish housing supply in light of the new Holyrood administration.
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, described the disparity between the Scottish government’s plans for building new social homes and the figures suggested by his organisation as "shocking".
“The numbers simply don’t add up. Instead of funding 6,000 new social homes as per its manifesto pledge, our analysis shows the Scottish government has only made available enough money to build 1,550 – at a push,” Brown said.
“That’s very worrying at a time when Scotland faces a crisis in the supply of new council and housing association homes.
“The Scottish Government needs to adopt a new mantra – build, protect, refurbish – build more social homes, protect people from losing their homes and refurbish empty homes.”
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