Affordable housing ambition impacted by rising costs, experts warn

Shortages and rising costs in labour and materials are having an impact on the ability to provide affordable housing in Scotland, experts have warned.

Holyrood’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee took evidence from groups overseeing the building of accommodation across the country on Tuesday.

The Scottish Government has committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 70% will be available for social rent.

A further 10% of the accommodation will be made available in remote, rural and island communities.

Mark Rodgers, from the Highland Council, said housing delivery has been “fairly successful” in “purely numerical terms”.

But he added: “The challenge is, are we actually building the right homes at the right size, in the right place, at the right time, for the right people at the right tenure?

“I would have to say to you, I think the answer is absolutely not.”

Building housing in rural areas “comes with its own challenges” said Donna Birrell, CEO at the Rural Stirling Housing Association.

However, she warned the committee: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite as difficult as this.”

Roslyn Clarke from the Applecross Community Company echoed this difficulty, adding that the Highlands and islands are experiencing a housing crisis in the meantime.

The lack of available housing is preventing young people from staying in remote communities, Ms Clarke said, as well as hindering the ability to return to these locations, resulting in a knock-on impact to the local economy.

She said challenges faced during the company’s development of housing in Applecross include a lack of competition from contractors, which led to higher costs than first expected and the need to take out additional loans to pay for these costs.

Similar difficulties are being faced in Scotland’s urban locations, the committee was told, in addition to problems with the supply of land.

Housing strategy and development head for City of Edinburgh Council, Elaine Scott, said pressure in the city’s market is having “an enormous impact”, with businesses in the area reporting issues in being able to recruit and retain staff.

“Mid-market rent has had a big impact on the city”, Ms Scott added, with the learning from that allowing the council to develop its own partnership with Scottish Futures Trust offering “a few hundred homes” on this basis.

“With the scale of challenge we face, it is really looking across the board on a strategic basis at the whole range of opportunities, mechanisms, we can do to be able to support the delivery of affordable housing, regeneration and place-making across the city,” she said.

Ms Scott said the council is keen to explore the ability to get more private-sector sites into development to meet affordable needs, pointing out a high amount of land under private ownership in Edinburgh.