Government stats reveal stark decline in social housing building

Newly released figures show that social house building in Scotland is plummeting, despite the Scottish Government pledging to deliver 110,000 more affordable homes by 2032.

The new statistics, released by the Scottish Government, show that there has been an 11% drop in the overall number of homes built in 2023.

The number of homes built across the country dropped by 2701 however there was an even bigger decrease in the number of housing association new builds. Only 2,073 were constructed in 2023, the lowest number since 1988.

This comes after the Scottish Government slashed their affordable housing budget by £200m in the December budget despite the Affordable Housing Supply Programme promising to increase affordable housing throughout the country.

Callum Chomczuk, National Director for the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) in Scotland, said: “The housing statistics published today are devastating for anyone in need of a home.

“Over the last twelve months we have seen falls in affordable housing approvals, affordable housing starts and affordable housing completions.

“Most concerningly affordable housing supply approvals are at their lowest since 2012 and new starts are the lowest since 2013, both of which signal we are likely to see an ongoing crisis in our housing and homelessness system.

“It is clear and clearer that our housing and homelessness system it at risk of systemic crisis; it needs political intervention, and we need funding for more social housing. Only by building more social homes can we address Scotland’s growing housing emergency.”