Housing bodies have branded a Scottish Executive plan to fund the building of affordable housing in rural areas "a drop in the ocean".
Scotland's deputy communities minister, Mary Mulligan, unveiled details of the £10m rural programme last Tuesday.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland's conference in Aberdeen, the minister announced that the first £8m would be spent building up to 127 homes in nine council areas in 2004/5.

But Jim Pollock, chairman of the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, said the announcement did not go far enough. "The deputy minister said in her speech that she wanted to 'tailor housing solutions to local conditions' but this will not do that," he said.

Pollock cited the example of Highland council, which stands to gain 24 houses under the funding plan but is estimated to require another 5000 homes.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations also criticised the executive, saying the announcement failed to recognise the scale of the shortage of affordable housing in rural Scotland.

David Orr, the federation's chief executive, said Inverness council had 3500 applicants on its housing list, yet was only able to make 350 allocations each year.

"Our members tell us that these patterns are repeated across all parts of rural Scotland. When seen in context, the announcement of 20 new houses here and 16 new houses there isn't going to make much of an impact," he said.

Source

Housing Today