Scotland pours £284m into affordable housing

31 Mar 04
Communities Minister Margaret Curran has announced a £284m investment package for affordable housing in Scotland, a 7% increase on the figure for 2003/04.

01 April 2004

Communities Minister Margaret Curran has announced a £284m investment package for affordable housing in Scotland, a 7% increase on the figure for 2003/04.

It includes a £20m fund to allow ministers to respond to the immediate requirements of a review of affordable housing, due to be completed later this year.

Housing associations, the main beneficiaries, welcomed the extra investment. However, the charity Shelter Scotland claimed the funding plans would fail to tackle Scotland's housing 'crisis' and voiced concern about a 'lack of clarity' over the housing review.

Communities Scotland, the executive agency responsible for housing investment, said the funds would provide 5,350 new and improved homes in areas of priority need.

A total of £28.7m will go towards Glasgow Housing Association's demolition and new housing programme.

The investment includes £65m for rural housing, an increase of almost £6m on current figures. During a visit to Arran this week, First Minister Jack McConnell said the Scottish Executive was determined to support affordable housing in rural areas to prevent depopulation.

The Executive's review of affordable housing needs for Scotland, first announced at the end of last year, will be based on analyses and consultations with interested parties and will take account of the wider work of the Barker review on UK housing published on March 17.

Curran said the focus of the programme was to target money at disadvantaged communities where the need was greatest, and to help people on low incomes to rent or buy a home.

The programme would see the biggest ever spending, proportionally, on rural housing in Scotland. David Orr, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, which has been campaigning for greater investment in affordable housing, said: 'In this announcement, they have accepted for the first time that there is a shortage of affordable housing in Scotland and that this must be addressed.

'We will be examining the detail of these figures closely but the thrust of the statement is very welcome.'

Rachel Martin of Shelter Scotland, however, said the Executive had failed to increase the money needed by enough. She accused the Executive of jeopardising new rights for the homeless and the badly housed.

The Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland said the Executive was in danger of 'merely patching up the dam rather than looking to address the real issues of housing supply and affordability'.

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