Councils to share £40m to boost supply of affordable homes

The Scottish Government has announced it will hand local authorities an extra £40m to increase the supply of social and affordable homes.

Housing minister Paul McLennan revealed the extra cash and said the key to tackling homelessness was “delivering more affordable homes”.

The Scottish Government is aiming to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

The £40m will be used to purchase properties in order to reduce temporary accommodation and bring vacant buildings back into use.

The funding will mostly be distributed to Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian, which all have sustained temporary accommodation pressures.

In First Minister John Swinney’s Programme for Government outlined last week, £600m was committed to affordable housing in the current financial year.

McLennan said: “The delivery of affordable homes is the foundation of family life and is fundamental to how we achieve our priorities of eradicating child poverty and growing the economy.

“The key to tackling homelessness and reducing the time spent by families in temporary accommodation is to deliver more affordable homes.

“We have already supported councils to purchase almost 1,500 properties in 2023-24 for use as affordable homes. However, we must do more and, by committing £40m this year, we are accelerating that work.

“This money will help councils provide a warm, safe place that families can call home again.”

McLennan has said the 2032 target is achievable, though opposition parties have questioned whether that is the case.