Minister urged to ‘deliver on promise’ to tackle housing emergency

Scottish Labour has called on Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan to “act urgently” to tackle the housing crisis by publishing an emergency plan.

The party said it has seen official figures which show the number of new affordable homes completed in Scotland has fallen in each of the last three years, from 23,486 in 2022 to 21,318 in 2023, with a further drop to 19,988 in 2024.

Labour said the statistics also show a decline in the number of affordable homes started during that time – 22,088 in 2022, 16,849 in 2023 and 15,749 in 2024.

However, the Scottish Government disputes this and says these numbers relate to all new dwellings completed, not just affordable ones.

Ms McAllan was appointed Housing Secretary by First Minister John Swinney in June this year and she has said an emergency plan will be in place by the autumn.

The Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency in May 2024 after a Labour-led debate at Holyrood calling for the move.

In May this year, the Government said it had been working to tackle the housing emergency.

It said it invested £600 million in affordable housing in 2024/25 and is making an additional £1 million available to registered social landlords and third sector organisations to prevent homelessness and support people to stay in rented accommodation.

It said further action will be taken in the coming year to continue to tackle the housing emergency.

Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: “These statistics show that the SNP’s rhetoric on tackling the housing crisis does not match their actions.

“Despite having declared a housing emergency last year, ministers have allowed the supply of new homes to dwindle, with a drop in the number of homes built.

“Not only has the SNP failed to tackle the housing emergency, it has also fanned the flames of the crisis by letting housebuilding plummet.

“Mairi McAllan has promised to deliver an emergency housing plan, but people across Scotland cannot afford to wait any longer for this dithering SNP Government to act. She must act urgently.

“Only Scottish Labour can turn the page on SNP failure and tackle the housing emergency once and for all by reforming planning, boosting housebuilding, and delivering fair funding for local government and affordable housing.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Housing will provide an update on ongoing efforts to tackle the housing emergency in autumn.

“We are investing £768 million this year including £40 million targeted at acquisitions to help deliver affordable homes more quickly.

“We’ve helped support more than 139,000 affordable homes since 2007, demonstrating our strong track record on delivery. Between 2007 and 2024 we have delivered 47% more affordable homes per head than England and 73% more per head than Wales.

“Factors including the pandemic, Brexit, cost of living crisis and inflationary pressures have put our housing system under considerable strain, with demand outstripping supply across the UK.

“However along with our significant investment, we are working closely with local authorities to support them to acquire more homes, return empty homes to use and prevent homelessness in the first place – including providing £97 million to fully mitigate the UK’s bedroom tax.”