Glasgow misses affordable homes target as rising costs hamper construction

Targets for the delivery of new affordable homes in Glasgow were missed last year, as rising costs continue to hamper construction.

The programme plays a “critical role” in providing new homes in the city, which declared a housing emergency in 2023 due to rising homelessness.

But the available funding isn’t enough to “meet the housing need” in Glasgow – and delays linked to securing consents, as well as “high costs”, meant targets for approvals, site starts and completions were missed in 2025/26.

New targets for the current year (2026/27) have been set, with the council aiming to complete more than 1,000 homes. Councillors will be asked to accept a £123.2m grant from the Scottish Government on Thursday.

Last year, the government provided £127.75m for the city’s affordable housing supply programme. All the cash was spent, but only 448 homes were recorded as complete, against a target of 633.

The council secured approval for 557 homes despite aiming for 921, and there were 947 site starts compared to a 1,271-home target.

Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, city convener for housing, said: “Despite declaring a housing emergency, the landscape for delivering affordable housing has not become any easier.

“We continue to deal with rising costs, which means that bringing them closer to benchmark can take longer in the planning phase and push approvals into the next year.”

The way that completions are recorded means they are “not counted as complete until the whole development is finished”, Cllr Kelly added. “So in actual fact, we have people living in homes that are not counted in this year’s completions.

“Volume and speed are my two priorities for housing in the city, and we continue to work with the Scottish Government on ways to drive down costs and simplify the process of getting a roof over people’s heads.”

A report to the council’s city administration committee states Glasgow has delivered a “significantly greater number of new-build affordable homes compared to other cities within the United Kingdom”.

Figures, for completions between 2019/20 and 2025/26, show 4,249 in Glasgow compared to 3,362 in Birmingham and 2,769 in Manchester.

On last year’s targets, the report states several projects “were not approved and/or started on programme”. “Reasons are complex but involved delays on site acquisition, securing consents, and working through high costs and grant rates.”

It adds that two large developments were not fully completed by the end of the financial year, but 138 homes were “completed and tenanted on these sites… bringing the out-turn completion figure to 586 homes”.

Targets for 2026/27 include 1,007 completions, 747 site starts and 670 approvals. Of the proposed approvals, 502 properties are for social rent, with 168 for mid-market rent.

The affordable housing programme has “always played a critical role in the provision of housing within the city, however, this role is even more significant in the context of Glasgow’s housing emergency”, the report continues.

As well as new-build projects, non-residential buildings are repurposed and private sector properties are acquired under the programme. Work is also ongoing to bring empty housing back into use, with 76 compulsory purchase orders promoted since 2019.

The report concludes: “While the figures above demonstrate significant levels of development, the figures do not reflect the response required to Glasgow’s housing emergency, to meet the housing need in the city nor the delivery capacity of the registered social landlord sector.

“Should further funding become available during the financial year, Glasgow is well placed to increase the number of additional affordable homes which could be tender approved during 2026/27.

“Officers continue to make representation to the Scottish Government to highlight housing and homelessness need, demand, and deliverability.”