David J Alexander says John Swinney’s Programme for Government has some laudable ams but scant detail on delivery and timescales.
First Minister John Swinney’s Programme for Government was promoted as providing a blueprint for the next five years of SNP rule. It would address the anticipated £5bn budget shortfall, boost economic growth, and deliver high quality and sustainable public services. But what about the housing emergency? Where was the detail on that? Almost 30 months on and there seems to be little urgency in addressing the many and varied housing needs in Scotland.
Swinney stated that: “Since 2007 we have delivered 146,034 affordable homes including 104,451 for social rent”. When you work this out it equates to 5,497 homes per year. The social housing waiting list is currently 180,074 which means that, at this rate, the waiting list – assuming no-one else joins it – will be zero in 32 years and nine months.
The Scottish government has said it intends to: “Work with local and regional partners to ensure the right mix of housing in the right places: aligned to housing need and our broader ambitions on regional growth and with housing provision supporting areas of new jobs and investment. Reform the planning system: to speed up developments and make it easier to get projects to completion and families into homes.”
Swinney stated that he would “Phase in the establishment of a new Scottish housing agency, More Homes Scotland, from 1 April 2027: bringing together funding, expertise and delivery tools under one roof. It will remove barriers and accelerate housing delivery, improving the use of public investment, unlocking private finance and supporting more homes, faster.”
These are all laudable aims but specifically how will this be delivered and what will be different? If this is easy to do, why hasn’t it been done in the past, and why, given the urgency of the current situation, is the new Scottish housing agency, More Homes Scotland, being phased in from next April?
There is to be a new ‘Homelessness Prevention Fund’ of £50 million over ten years. That is £5m a year divided by the 40,688 currently homeless people, which equates to £122.88 per person per year. There will be support for local authorities to deliver 1,500 Housing First tenancies over five years. This is 300 Housing Eirst tenancies a year, meaning it will take 135 years to clear current number of homeless people.
There is also the nonsensical proposal to “Engage with stakeholders on our proposal to enable private rental tenants to purchase the property they rent if the owner chooses to put it up for sale.” Tenants can already buy any property that is for sale, and the government should not be intervening to give someone a greater right to buy than anyone else.
What, if anything, does this all add up to? Well, we shall have to wait and see because there is little sense of urgency from the Scottish government to deliver on the lowest level of newbuilds in over a decade, the highest number of homeless people on record, and the largest ever number of individuals and families in temporary accommodation. Most of this statement is all too familiar, lacks detail, and an appropriate timescale for delivery. But not to worry, the new housing agency is going to be phased in from next April.
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