New agency to focus on boosting affordable, rural and island housing supply
Scottish First Minister John Swinney has announced his Government is setting up More Homes Scotland.
The Scottish Government is to set up a housebuilding agency to increase the pace of supply, the First Minister has announced.
John Swinney said on Thursday the new body, More Homes Scotland, will be designed by Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan, councils and the Scottish National Investment Bank – which will look to bring in private funding.
The agency will focus on large-scale affordable housing proposals, rural and island housing, the acquisition of land and infrastructure work needed for sites that have stalled.
An update will be given to the Scottish Parliament in March, the Scottish Government has said, with the hopes of being fully operational by the 2028-29 financial year.
Speaking ahead of a visit to a construction site in East Lothian, Mr Swinney said: “Since 2007, the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of 141,000 affordable homes in Scotland, including 101,000 for social rent – proportionately far more than other parts of the UK. We have helped thousands of families to have a warm, safe and affordable place to call home.
“However, Scotland is facing a housing emergency. We recognise the difficulty that many Scots – in particular young Scots - have finding a home they can afford to rent or buy.
“A new national agency will mean less duplication, greater expertise, increased efficiencies, and making our substantial investment go further.
“It will also provide enhanced support to our local authority partners and we will work in partnership with the Scottish National Investment Bank to attract more commercial investment.
“It is a new body that will offer simplicity, scale and speed – boosting delivery, and maximising savings, as part of our commitment to a decade of public sector modernisation and reform.
“More Homes Scotland will meet the needs of this time. It will deliver – for a new generation of Scots – new homes more quickly, more affordably, in more liveable, climate-friendly communities.”
The agency, however, will not be involved directly in the building of homes, the First Minister told the Press Association.
He said: “This will be an enabling agency which will work with local authority partners and housing associations around the country and individual developers to make sure that we remove obstacles and barriers, so that the significant investment that the Scottish Government is putting in place in affordable housing – over £900 million in the next financial year – is able to be deployed as quickly and as effectively, with as much impact, as possible to create the new homes that people in Scotland need.”
He added that the body will not have powers over planning, but will work with councils on the issue.
“We’ve got to be constantly looking at the planning system to make sure the planning system operates with efficiency, that it delivers the ability to construct new homes within Scotland, and that we do everything within our power to use the resources available to us to speed up the system,” he said.
Scottish National Investment Bank chief executive David Ritchie said: “The bank has invested more than £130 million in housing to date, with a robust pipeline of more potential housing investments. We welcome More Homes Scotland being established to bring momentum in finding housing solutions.
“As a mission-led investor, the bank makes commercial investments that drive long-term societal and economic growth for Scotland. Our ‘Place’ mission is focused on improving communities, and a good home is a key tenet of that.
“Working with private investors and homebuilders we have developed innovative approaches to unlock finance, getting much-needed homes built across Scotland.”
