Affordable homes costs and statistics: FOI release

Information requested

Of the Scottish Government’s target to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with 10% of them being rural, please can you:

1. Outline how many homes, which have been completed within this target since 2023, have been in rural parts of Scotland (and provide an annual breakdown).

2. Outline how many affordable homes, have been started but not been completed within this target since 2023 and have been in rural parts of Scotland (and provide an annual breakdown).

3. The total spend in terms of building properties, in rural areas, to meet this target.

Response

1. How many homes, which have been completed within this target since 2023, have been in rural parts of Scotland

6 Fold Urban/Rural Classification	2023-2024	2024-2025	Total
Remote Small Towns	270	115*	385
Accessible Rural	1,233	1,305*	2,538
Remote Rural	555	275*	830
Total	2,058	1,695*	3,753

* Figures are provisional and subject to final validation.

These figures represent 22% of the total homes delivered between 2023 and 2025. This proportion reflects the number of completed rural homes, as shown in the annual breakdown provided.

Please note all homes completed from 23 March 2022 onwards are included within the target of 110,000 affordable homes to be delivered by 2032.

The Scottish Government uses the 6 fold Urban Rural Classification to categorise homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP), validated against the National Records of Scotland (NRS) Scottish Postcode Directory. Classes 4 (remote small towns), 5 (accessible rural), and 6 (remote rural) are used to define rural and island delivery.

From the start of the 110,000 homes target period (23 March 2022), an additional RESAS non-rural filter is applied effectively excluding Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Glasgow from rural delivery figures.

2. How many affordable homes, have been started but not been completed within this target since 2023 and have been in rural parts of Scotland:

6 Fold Urban/Rural Classification	2023-2024  Starts	Not yet complete	2024-2025 Starts	Not yet complete	Not yet complete Total
Remote Small Towns	165	70	46	24	94
Accessible Rural	955	430	860	671	1,101
Remote Rural	318	204	168	118	322
Total	1,438	704	1,074	813	1,517

To note that we review and refine the classification at the point of completion which is what our target is based on to ensure the classification is in line with the postcode look up data at that date. E.g. a project could have been classified as rural at the point of approval or site start but at the point of completion is no longer the same category of classification.

3. Total spend in rural areas:

6 Fold Urban/Rural Classification	2023-2024 £m	2024-2025 £m	Total £m
Remote Small Towns	17.980	16.243	34.223
Accessible Rural	95.722	106.498	202.220
Remote Rural	35.475	28.274	63.749
Total	149.177	151.015	300.192

These figures represent 23% of the total spend between April 2023 and March 2025.

The table above shows total expenditure through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in rural areas in Scotland, including acquisitions, rehabilitations and new build. Spend will not directly correlate to starts or completions as grant can be across different financial years and is paid out at regular intervals on receipt of confirmation of costs incurred.

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