Homeless charity tells Scottish Government to demand fair share of housing cash
SHELTER SCOTLAND has called on the Scottish Government to ensure Scotland gets it’s fair share of the extra money set aside for house building in the UK Government’s Autumn statement.
It’s comments follow the Chancellor’s announcement [Wednesday 23 November] that a fund of £1.4bn would be set aside to boost housing across the UK.
The charity argued that according to Barnett obligations the Scottish Government should build on its current pledges by demanding its fair share.
“We urge the Scottish Government to build more than the 50,000 new homes it has promised and protect people from the impact of benefit cuts.” Graeme Brown
Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “This cash injection of £1.4bn in affordable housing by the UK government will mean Scotland should benefit by more than £100 million through Barnett consequentials.
“We urge the Scottish Government to add this to the £3bn it has already committed to invest in affordable housing and build more than the 50,000 new homes it has promised and protect people from the impact of benefit cuts.”
The £1.4bn boost for housing is in addition to an existing fund of £4.7bn, and meant to help build 40,000 new homes in England for people at lower rents.
The proportion of households in the private rented sector grew from 5 per cent in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2015
The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) released earlier this year provided figures from 2015 that showed the proportion of households in the private rented sector grew from 5 per cent in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2015 -an almost threefold increase.
In contrast, the number of households in the social rented sector declined from 32 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2007, and has remained at around 23 per cent of all households since.
The Scottish Government, in response to the Autumn statement, doubled down on its pledge to provide 50,000 new homes with 35,000 being for social rent.
Background: What does the Autumn statement mean for Scotland?
Picture courtesy of Shelter Scotland
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