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Task force to tackle housing supply problems
21/06/2007
Scotland needs many more homes in the right places and housing solutions that the government can afford, the Parliament was told today.
Minister for Communities Stewart Maxwell said the challenges were 'immense' and that he was acutely aware of the difficulties many people face achieving their basic housing aspirations.
He laid out a number of steps that the government will take to tackle the problems.
Social Housing - public consultation
- In the autumn, the government will consult on its proposals for social housing, inviting people throughout Scotland to join the debate and offer their ideas on the best way ahead.
Housing Supply - The Task Force
- A Housing Supply Task Force, chaired by the Minister, will be set up to tackle the obstacles, such as land supply and planning issues, which have been hampering the delivery of more housing.
- The Minister's focus will be robust challenge to the way things are done in order to secure the urgent action needed to improve housing supply in Scotland.
- The Task Force will work to a clear remit that will drive forward a focused plan of action.
Scottish Housing Support Fund
- A Scottish Housing Support Fund will be created to provide additional help for the many people who struggle to afford a first home of their own.
- The government have already begun exploring options with the private sector, which is keen to invest more in housing, and regeneration, in Scotland.
In the Holyrood chamber Mr Maxwell said:
"A healthy housing supply forms the bedrock of fairer, stronger and safer communities.
"The sobering reality is that there are simply not enough new houses being built. There are over 8,500 homeless households in temporary accommodation, plus unacceptably long waiting lists for affordable rented housing across Scotland. This is set against a backdrop of property prices continuing to rise at an alarming rate, worsening the problem.
"One of the burning questions is whether we are getting value for the huge sums of taxpayer's money ploughed into housing provision.
"The present arrangements for subsidising social housing are unsustainable. If we don't reform these arrangements, satisfying projected demand for social housing in future years will be impossible.
"It will require an astronomical injection of funding from the public purse - an increase on current spending levels of an additional GDP750 million over the next three years.
"It is in all our interests, indeed it is our duty, to work together, in a spirit of cooperation, to end long waiting lists and bad housing. The people of Scotland deserve no less."
The Housing Supply Task Force will have a wide membership - drawn from local authorities, house-builders, the housing association movement, and housing interest groups.
The government has also published today a comprehensive report on the housing market in Scotland.