Homeless services at risk after budget hike for Scottish affordable housing

Homelessness charity Shelter Scotland was responding to a three-year budget announcement by the Scottish Executive which was also criticised by the Chartered Institute of Housing for not providing even more money for affordable housing.

The Scottish budget for affordable housing is to rise from £286.5m this year to £389 in three years’ time, a rise of a quarter based on Treasury inflation forecasts.

But the overall housing budget is to fall by 1% in real terms, as it rises in cash terms from £652m to £689m over the same period.

The overall housing budget includes provision for initiatives covering homelessness, private sector housing, central heating installation and fuel efficiency.

Gavin Cobbett, head of campaigns at Shelter Scotland, said he feared cuts in the homelessness budget and in investment in housing quality in the private sector.

“The executive is constantly changing budget categories so they defy trend analysis,” he said.

The increase in the affordable housing budget will see an increase in the annual provision of new and replacement affordable homes from 6,000 in this financial year to 8,000 by 2008.

Alan Ferguson, director of CIH Scotland, said: “We had hoped to see 12,000 affordable homes to rent being built per year.”

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: “This investment does not mean cuts elsewhere in the housing budget. It reflects savings, for instance, from paying off Scottish Homes debt, which releases £85m over three years, and income from capital receipts.”

The executive relied on research by Professor Glen Bramley of Heriot Watt University that shows only 4,500 to 7,000 additional affordable homes are needed each year.