Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
Industry bosses issued the stark warning: “If the First Minister is not willing to invest his political capital in a new approach, then existing structures simply cannot provide the response Scotland needs.”
In the face of a housing crisis, it was seen as a huge missed opportunity after a direct appeal by joint bodies for John Swinney appeared to be gaining some attention.
Housing minister Paul McLennan said when presenting his ministerial statement at Holyrood on Thursday that work to introduce a tenure-neutral housing standard would be “rearranged” and he outlined an ambition to reduce the number of children living in temporary accommodation.
A commitment to housing was welcomed as a national outcome and the potential of the housing investment task force.
The industry relies on rent controls introduced in 2022 which were meant to be temporary, but are now being considered in Scotland’s long-term housing plan.
This has been blamed for housing developments across Scotland almost coming to a halt, with many switching to student accommodation, which is also required, but within the housing balance.
Investors pulled out of housing deals on the day the Scottish Government announced the move.
However, David Melhuish, director of the Scottish Property Federation, said “the response to the housing crisis did not address the uncertainty for investors caused by the current Housing Bill”.
He told this column: “The provision in the Bill for rent control could mean a gap of seven to eight years in rent control policy across the country, and with the possibility of freezing rents for five years of this period.
“This makes no provision for the construction, retrofitting or professional management of rental homes and unfortunately investors clearly see the proposals as uninvestable. Last week we saw what was previously earmarked as Scotland’s largest build-to-rent scheme, over 800 new purpose-built private homes for rent located in the heart of Glasgow, sold by its investor with r buyer looking to change the plan. site use. This is just one of a number of old rental housing sites being moved on to other uses.
“It is clear that the previously reported warnings of around £3bn of housing investment for around 17,000 homes with varying tenure are now at risk of not happening at all.
“It is estimated that this investment will rise to around £4.5bn in economic value over a period of ten years if encouraged to come forward, providing a vital boost to the Scottish economy.”
He said: “If we are to tackle the housing crisis we must start building more homes of all tenures, and we must remove the current uncertainty for investors which is causing so much damage to housing investment in Scotland. We need to start by improving this Bill, and we don’t have much time to do that if we are to regain confidence in the investment community.”
The specialist build-to-rent scheme, Get Living, which included up to 1,500 homes in one, had been in the making for five years. The Galliard Apsley Partnership has acquired the site in Glasgow.
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Jane Wood, chief executive of Homes for Scotland, said: “In light of the Minister’s statement on the housing crisis… we remain very concerned about how quickly the change needed by the Scottish population will be delivered do
“This is against a backdrop of a quarter of Scotland’s population facing some form of housing need, a 24% drop in new home starts and completions across tenures in 2023 and challenges across the environment regulation that affects the provision of homes.
“It also follows worrying evidence gathered by Homes for Scotland members showing that 1000’s of homes across tenures have been put on hold across the country due to budget constraints.
“Given the scale of the issue and the strong interdependencies across the whole housing sector, it is vital that we move forward together, challenging the status quo to find new ways of doing things in order to avoid the same consequences, or indeed no consequences at all.”
The coalition which includes the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, the Chartered Housing Foundation, Homes for Scotland, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Shelter Scotland wrote to the First Minister outlining actions including the 37% cut to the affordable housing. housing supply programme.
The coalition said in a joint statement: “It is extremely disappointing that, despite declaring a housing crisis, the Scottish Government has made it clear that it intends to carry on with business as usual.”
Donald Anderson, former council leader who is now a director at public affairs agency Playfair Scotland, said: “A large part of the market has been killed and huge housing investment has been lost for the foreseeable future and that’s just the announcement of rent. controls.
“This must rank as the worst decision taken on the economy since devolution.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes answered questions about Scottish taxes in business editor Ian McConnell’s exclusive interview this week.
He reveals that “Scotland’s income tax burden on higher earners is under review” in his series of articles.
Also this week deputy business editor Scott Wright says: “Immigration has been one of the main themes of the General Election campaign so far. Unfortunately, while much of the debate has sought to address concerns some have about the number of people who want to come to the general election. In the UK, almost nothing has been aired about the positive things that immigration can bring.”
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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