Housebuilding increases but completions remain below pre-pandemic levels

The number of new homes being built in Scotland has failed to return to pre-Covid levels, new figures show.

Housebuilding slumped across the country during the pandemic, with 14,867 new properties completed in 2020-21.

New figures from the Scottish Government show completions were up by almost 40% on that total, to 20,767, in 2021-22.

But the number of properties that were built was still lower than the 22,124 constructed in 2019-20 – which was the highest for more than a decade.

Homes for Scotland, which represents the housebuilding industry, said the figures show “how far behind we still are”.

HFS chief executive Jane Wood, however, also highlighted the “resilience” of the sector, after completions fell below 15,000 in 2020-21.

The latest figures show 14,211 private sector homes were built in Scotland in 2021-22, with this up from 11,054 the previous year but down on the 16,452 recorded in 2019-20.

There were 3,853 housing association properties built last year, up from 2,364 in 2020-21 but below the total of 4,204 from 2019-20.

The number of new council homes that were built was however higher than the previous two years – with local authorities completing 2,705 homes in 2021-22, compared to 1,449 in 2020-21 and 1,468 in 2019-20.

Speaking about the data as a whole, Ms Wood said: “After the challenges presented by the pandemic, these figures demonstrate the resilience of the home building sector after completion levels dropped below 15,000 in 2020-21.

“However, they also show how far behind we still are.”

The HFS chief executive complained about the “frustrating” time lag in reporting, adding this came at a time “when we continue to face major obstacles to achieving sustained growth, not least of which include planning, material and labour shortages as well as increased costs”.

Ms Wood insisted: “Up-to-date statistics are essential to supporting effective, evidence-based policy decision-making, which is why we have committed to working with the Scottish Government to identify and address the data gaps that exist.

“Such collaboration between the public and private sectors and government at national and local levels is vital to delivering the homes that Scotland’s people need.”