Achi news desk-
A statement from Mr Yousaf said that providing affordable housing “is at the heart of what my government is doing to make Scotland a better place”.
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Housing bodies, however, said the £80m pledge was too little to reverse Scotland’s housing crisis.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) pointed out that the government’s record on housing has been under intense scrutiny in recent months following a £196m cut to the country’s affordable housing budget.
SFHA Chief Executive Sally Thomas said that while any new funding was welcome, this move would not address the core issue of the need to build homes on a large scale.
He said: “For months we have repeatedly called on the government to reverse the massive £200 million cut to the affordable housing programme, so I am pleased to see the First Minister at least considering the issue of housing.”
Figures published last month pointed to the lowest number of homes built by housing associations last year than at any time since 1988.
Ms Thomas added: “Fundamentally, what we need is the money to build it – and quite simply this will not build one new social home.
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“With the reduction in supply, this funding announcement pales in comparison to what we have lost and unfortunately represents little more than a sticking plaster during a national housing crisis.”
Wearing highvis and a hard hat, he toured the development with officers from the housing association.
In a statement, the First Minister said: “Even though one person is homeless in our country, it is not acceptable to have empty houses – so I am determined that we remove the obstacles, and provide the money that will enables councils. to buy properties so they can become affordable homes again.
“This £80m will build on the success of our National Procurement Program which I announced last year, which spent more than £60m and delivered more than 1000 affordable homes. “This is one of a number of steps we are prioritizing to help reduce the number of the households in temporary accommodation.
“We will also speed up the discussion with COSLA in relation to the number of empty council houses.”
Leading housing charity Shelter Scotland urged the First Minister to make social homes ‘core’ to his plan to tackle homelessness and child poverty.
The charity emphasized that the housing budget was still facing a significant cut at a time when investment was urgently needed.
Director of Shelter Scotland, Alison Watson, said: “When the Scottish Government cut the housing budget earlier this year, we made no secret of our disappointment and indeed our anger that such a decision could be made during a housing crisis destructive.
“Although I am pleased that the Prime Minister has today committed to restoring a portion of the lost funding, the housing budget has still suffered a huge cut at a time when there is a dire need for significant investment in social housing.
“If the First Minister is committed to ‘reset’ then he should seize that opportunity to make social housing the foundation of a plan to tackle homelessness and child poverty.
“Providing social housing builds a better, fairer Scotland; we will continue to encourage the Scottish Government to demonstrate its commitment to that vision.”
The £80m funding will increase the budget of the Affordable Housing Delivery Program to almost £600m in 2024-2025.
