Scottish Government declare housing emergency amid pressure

Yesterday the Scottish Government declared a nationwide housing emergency – six months after previously blocking a similar move.  

SFHA has welcomed the move, having lobbied MSPs to back the vote and signed an open letter alongside Shelter Scotland and others saying that it was desperately needed. The fact every party in parliament voted in favour of declaring the housing emergency is a positive indication that there may now be the cross-party support needed to address the issue. 

So, what will change after the vote and what does it actually mean for our members? Well in practical terms, nothing will immediately change. Declaring an emergency is more an acknowledgement of the scale of the issue. 

That’s why SFHA has called on the Scottish Government to back their words with action and provide a funding package which recognises the scale of the problem and offers a genuine route towards solving it. The first step would be to reverse the hammer-blow 26% cut to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget. After two successive budget cuts, we urgently need to prioritise investment in our social homes and create a renewed political focus on how to deliver them.  

As the conversations continue on how to address the emergency, we will be front and centre arguing for the solutions needed to navigate our way out of the crisis. 

We know what works and we know the challenges we need to overcome – securing a fair and adequate settlement for the costs of retrofit, addressing the costs of developing new homes, and increasing tenants’ income – and we will work tirelessly on your behalf to solve these. 

SFHA will keep working in Parliament on behalf of our members on the front line of this emergency to make sure we have the resources needed to deliver the social homes we need, play our part in reaching net zero, and end the scourge of poverty in 21st century Scotland.