Poll: 80% of Scots say country is likely facing ‘housing crisis’

Eight in 10 Scots say the country is likely facing a housing crisis, a poll suggests.

The YouGov survey for the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) also found housing was the third most important issue for Scots, behind the economy and health.

YouGov polled 1,058 adults in late January.

Some 80% said Scotland is either “definitely” or “probably” experiencing a housing crisis.

Meanwhile, 79% said there is not enough housing which is affordable.

Asked about a situation where they had to move out their current home, 41% of respondents said they were confident they could find another home which would meet their needs – against 51% who said they were not confident.

On Thursday, MSPs will debate the first stage of the Scottish budget, which includes a cut of £200 million from affordable housing.

However, deputy first minister Shona Robison has said the housing budget will be her “number one priority” if more money becomes available.

Sally Thomas, chief executive of the SFHA, said: “This new poll shows people across Scotland recognise the desperate lack of affordable housing – but the Scottish Government doesn’t seem to see the urgency.

“When nearly 10,000 children are growing up in temporary accommodation, nearly a quarter of a million people are on a waiting list for a social home – and eight out of 10 people believe there’s a housing crisis – it is simply a baffling decision to slash its affordable housing budget.

“Safe, warm, affordable housing is a basic human right. I would again urge the Scottish Government to reverse this disastrous cut and redouble its efforts to deliver the homes we need.”

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “The Scottish Government has led the UK in housing by delivering more than 126,000 affordable homes since 2007, over 89,000 of which were for social rent, including almost 24,000 council homes.

“We will invest £556 million in affordable housing in 2024-25, the majority of which will be for social rent.

“The UK Government failed to inflation-proof their capital budget, and this has resulted in nearly a 10% real terms cut in our UK capital funding between 2023-24 and 2027-28.

“This is on top of the disastrous impact Brexit has had on construction supply chain issues, labour shortages and the inflationary pressures driven by UK Government financial mismanagement.

“We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and to support that we will bring forward the review scheduled for 2026-27 to 2024, which will concentrate on deliverability.

“We are working with the financial community in Scotland, and elsewhere, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes.”