Scottish government urged to declare a ‘national housing crisis’

A Conservative MSP is calling on the Scottish Government to declare a ‘national housing crisis’ after it was revealed that 47,000 people are homeless in the country.

The data from the Scottish government also reveals that 30,000 people are stuck on social housing waiting lists.

Miles Briggs, the housing spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives highlighted the issue in a Holyrood debate and blamed the SNP for presiding over a housing crisis.

He also expressed concerns during the debate that one third of homeless people in Scotland are children, and other vulnerable groups such as service veterans and disabled people are also badly affected.

£170 million cut from housing budget

The second part of the debate outlined that £170 million has been cut from the housing budget for 2023/24 despite the Scottish government’s plan to build 50,000 affordable homes.

Mr Briggs said: “The buck stops with Nicola Sturgeon’s government for this crisis.

“They have failed to meet their own house-building targets and there’s little hope of the situation improving when John Swinney’s most recent budget outlined a swingeing £170 million cut in the housing budget – and that’s in cash, not real, terms.”

He added: “On top of that, we’ve had the SNP-Green rent freeze and eviction ban, which has been counter-productive and damaging for tenants – as we warned it would be – by reducing private rental stock and leading to housing developments being paused or shelved.”

Mr Briggs urged the SNP housing secretary, Shona Robinson, to declare a housing emergency and to tackle homelessness and accelerate homebuilding to meet demand and reduce social housing waiting lists.

‘PRS no longer a viable option for many landlords’

Propertymark has also expressed its fears over the housing crisis in Scotland and says more needs to be done about affordable and social housing.

Timothy Douglas, the organisation’s head of policy and campaigns, said: “We remain concerned about the impact of a shortage of supply on the housing market, particularly for affordable housing as social housing continues to be drastically undelivered.

“As inflation, the cost of living and homelessness numbers rise, the commitment to building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 under current plans is becoming completely unachievable, not only when meeting their ambitious targets but also meeting the growing demand for suitable homes of all tenures.”

‘No longer a viable option for many landlords’

He added: “The PRS is no longer a viable option for many landlords.

“We know that the private rented sector plays a huge role in housing the nation however, due to increased financial and regulatory pressures placed on landlords, 68% of letting agents said they had seen an increase in notices to sell.

“Ministers push the rhetoric on the cost of supply, materials, Brexit and inflation but continues to disregard how its restrictive policies are impacting the sector.

“We need the Scottish Government to drastically improve the way that it values the private rented sector and tackle housing issues such as these with greater urgency.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said that the country has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world and while the number of households in temporary accommodation is too high, the government is committed to reducing it.

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