Scottish minister denies affordable housing projects abandoned due to budget cuts

The housing minister has denied work on affordable homes has ground to a halt because of budget cuts from the Scottish Government, while insisting housebuilding targets can still be met.

Paul McLennan said the Government had invested in housing but highlighted cuts to the Scottish capital budget.

He was responding to figures from the housebuilding trade body Homes for Scotland, which said the construction of more than 1,800 affordable homes had been stalled by budget cuts.

The organisation’s chief executive Jane Wood told The Herald that cuts in the Government budget were “devastating” and that urgent action was needed.

McLennan was asked about the situation when he appeared on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Monday.

He said the Welsh Government had also been hit by cuts to its capital spending budget from Westminster.

He was asked about Homes for Scotland’s claims that affordable housing projects had been abandoned, with the SNP minister saying this was not the case and that the organisation’s findings had not been shared with him.

McLennan said: “The information that Homes of Scotland have hasn’t been shared with ourselves and I’d be delighted to discuss that with them.

“I meet individual local authorities on a regular basis to discuss these sites.”

The housing minister was also asked if the Scottish Government target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 was unrealistic.

He said: “I think the target is achievable.

“And one of the key things is how do we achieve that. And again, that’s very much partnership working with local authorities, with Homes for Scotland, with the UK Government and so on.

“We’re focused and we’re determined to deliver on that target.”

Earlier this year, Scottish Labour said the target was in “tatters” due to a fall in approvals for new housebuilding.

In May, the Scottish Parliament voted to declare a nationwide housing emergency, calling for a coherent plan to address the situation.