Scottish Government Unveils New Housing Infrastructure Fund
The construction industry in Scotland has been given a boost following an announcement by the Scottish Government last week they are to make £10 million in loans available for housing infrastructure projects. The cash is to be spent on new homes developments in Scotland which are currently unable to go ahead due to difficulties with issues such as blocked drainage, decontamination and problems with flooding.
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil says the money was aimed at “kick starting a range of developments in urban and rural communities across Scotland.”
He adds: “Loans will be for companies to build the roads or lay the pipes and cables that mean housing developments can go ahead. Unlocking development in this way will deliver a major boost to the Scottish economy worth far in advance of the initial £10 million investment and supporting many construction industry jobs.”
The news is welcomed by Homes for Scotland’s chief executive Jonathan Fair, who says: “With the number of new homes continuing to languish at stubbornly low levels, today’s announcement demonstrates that the Scottish Government is prepared to grasp the nettle in terms of the barriers to development in the current economic environment and begin to help break them down with actions to unlock housing construction.”
Only last week the chief executive of one of the country’s major housing associations had expressed disappointment at the Government’s lack of financial assistance. Highlands-based Albyn Housing Society’s Calum Macaulay insisted it had not gone far enough to help the “beleaguered construction industry”.
His remarks came on the back of a delay in the announcement of successful bidders for the Scottish Government’s Innovation and Investment Fund. The Fund plans to make £20 million available to local authorities, £20 million to registered social landlords and just £10 million for ‘innovation’. Successful bidders for the cash were to receive it last month but will now have to wait.
Mr Macaulay, whose company has bid for a project to build 50 homes for the rental or shared equity market, said: “Taking into account any council house building programme, the likelihood is there are only going to be something like 250 to 350 properties built a year to add to the affordable housing sector [in the Highlands]. Given that 9,000 to 10,000 households are on the homelessness register in the Highlands, that is not going to make much of an impression.”
Like many housing associations in Scotland Albyn has been forced to make a drastic rethink of its homes provision for the future. Last month the company announced the number of new homes they intended to build over the next financial year would be 85 per cent less than their total three years ago.
Referring to a decrease in public sector funding in Scotland Mr Macaulay added: “These cuts, which are reflected throughout Scotland, are not just devastating for those waiting for a home. They are also extremely worrying for the already beleaguered construction industry, which has relied on the affordable housing sector, during the last few years.”
Many in the construction and house building industry say the Government’s Innovation and Investment Fund is heavily over-subscribed.