Government pledges further cash for scheme to boost affordable housing

The Scottish Government is providing another £25 million for a scheme aimed at increasing the supply of affordable homes.

The Charitable Bond programme provides loans to councils and housing associations, with the interest then reinvested as grants into the social rented sector, further increasing housing supply.

The Scottish Government had previously committed to provide up to £80 million through the initiative in 2022-23, with ministers now increasing that to £105 million.

Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “I’m pleased to be increasing our investment in the innovative Charitable Bond programme, providing funding to social landlords so they can deliver affordable homes to benefit the people in their communities.

“We want everyone to have a warm, safe, affordable home that meets their needs, and by committing additional funding to the Charitable Bond programme, we are taking yet another step towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.”

Kingdom Housing Association will be among the organisations to benefit, receiving loan cash that will help it provide more than 300 homes in east-central Scotland for mid-market and social rent.

Ken Tudhope, executive director of finance at the housing association, said: “The simple nature of the loans provides us with a unique source of unsecured funding that gives flexibility to our business and supports our development plans.

“This will be the fourth loan we’ve taken through the programme and we plan to utilise the funds across 34 individual construction projects as part of our programme to deliver over 2,000 much-needed affordable homes in the next five years.”