Falkirk West Michael Matheson has welcomed figures showing that the Scottish Government exceeded its affordable homes target by more than 10% – with Scotland outperforming the rest of the UK for all housebuilding.
Over the past parliamentary term the Scottish Government delivered 33,490 affordable homes – beating the target of 30,000. Of these, more than 22,500 were for social rent, including almost 6,000 council houses.
The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the pace of affordable housebuilding, with a target of delivering at least 50,000 affordable homes by the end of this parliament, backed by more than £3 billion investment.
The rate of house building completions across all sectors puts Scotland ahead of every other country in the UK.
Commenting, Mr Matheson said:
“I’m delighted that the Scottish Government has exceeded ambitious targets for building new affordable homes – with families across Falkirk district and Scotland benefitting.
“Exceeding the target of building 30,000 affordable homes is no mean feat in a challenging financial environment. Investment of more than £1.7 billion, as well as the re-introduction of council house building, has meant high quality, energy efficient, affordable homes have been built the length and breadth of the country.
“Scotland is building homes at a rate faster than anywhere else in the UK, and in fact since 2007 we have built over 41,000 more homes than would have been built at England’s lower per-capita rate. That’s the equivalent of a new town the size of Paisley.
“Over the next five years the Scottish Government will increase the pace of affordable home construction delivering the homes communities in Falkirk need. This is not just about counting bricks and mortar, but about providing people with high equality, energy efficient, affordable homes – improving their life chances, health and wellbeing.”
Notes:
Over the last Parliamentary term, 33,490 affordable homes were delivered:
• 22,523 were for social rent – 2,523 more than the five year target. These include 5,992 council house completions – almost 20 % more than the five year target
• 3,473 were for other affordable rent
• 7,494 were for affordable home ownership
