More Homes Scotland update: March 2018
An update on our More Homes Scotland approach.
We're working to increase the number of homes across Scotland so everyone has a good quality home that they can afford and that meets their needs.
Over this Parliament we'll spend more than £3 billion to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes, of which 35,000 will be for social rent. Two years ago we launched the More Homes Scotland approach to help with this. It involves:
- investing more public and private money in housing
- getting land ready for housing
- making sure we plan for new housing effectively
What we've done
For the first time, we've committed to year-on-year increases in funding for affordable homes to be shared by councils across Scotland. This £1.75 billion investment from 2018-19 to 2020-21 gives councils and housing associations the certainty they need to help deliver our ambitious affordable homes target.
In 2018/19 we are investing £756m in our Affordable Housing Supply Programme. This compares to £590m in 2017/2018.
We're developing midmarket rent, which helps those otherwise unable to buy a home and find full market rent too expensive. Last year we invited proposals for mid-market rent initiatives and we're in the final stages of due diligence for a proposal that could result in around 1,000 mid-market rent homes while leveraging significant pension fund investment to the affordable housing sector. We're working to conclude this by the end of March.
We're promoting and attracting new institutional investment in build-to-rent housing. This builds on last October's launch of the Rental Income Guarantee Scheme and wider promotion activity, including publication of an industry 'opportunity document'.
Excellence in housing development
Our 'Achieving Excellence in Housing Development' programme is helping over 50 associations receive procurement support from Scotland Excel.
We're developing a way to measure development performance and quality, and we're about to start projects to strengthen the sector's approach to off-siteconstruction and social value.
We've worked closely with Scottish Water over the past couple of years and together we've identified and resolved much sooner housing delivery concerns raised by developers. During this time, Scottish Water has made key organisational changes and made widely acknowledged improvements to the service it provides to housing developments.
Contact
Email: MoreHomes@gov.scot
Telephone: 0300 244 4000
Post:
Scottish Government
Housing and Social Justice Directorate
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
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