Housing Matters: Making housing a national priority

After a busy summer, the coming months are certain to be crucial for our housing associations and tenants.?And while this week’s Programme for Government recognised the importance of affordable rented housing, it fell short in tackling the deepening emergency. We’ve already briefed our members on the Programme for Government, and will keep them informed as we continue to engage with government. ?

While housing is clearly rising up the government agenda, it is against a backdrop of severe financial constraint and huge social and economic challenges. At my meeting with the First Minister earlier this month, his understanding of and appreciation for the work of housing associations was evident. And his willingness to consider providing more certainty of funding for our social homes, exempting Mid-Market Rent from the Housing Bill, and creating greater access to information on land, including ownership data, were welcome. Since then, we have had further discussions with officials and Ministers to take forward these issues, as we seek to work constructively and pragmatically to tackle the challenges facing our sector.????

As well as all this, we’re conscious that the cost-of-living crisis continues to strain household finances, not least for social tenants, underlined by an announcement from Ofgem last week that typical average energy bills will increase by 10 percent under its new price cap. So, in this Programme for Government we called for a Cost-of-Living Fund to replace the Fuel Insecurity and Winter Hardship Funds, which have proved so vital in previous winters. Just this week the UK Government announced it was extending the Household Support Fund in England which helps low-income households with food and energy costs. Given the Scottish Government will receive additional money as a result of this, we’re clear it must go to supporting those on low incomes with essential household costs. While the fiscal environment is a bleak one, we can’t ignore the desperate situations of many of our tenants and communities that will only be exacerbated by winter conditions.????

So, we are living through increasingly tough times, with an extremely challenging economic landscape. The Prime Minister has warned that October’s UK Budget will be “painful”, whilst the First Minister has suggested the Scottish Government also faces tough economic choices – with cuts across the board - in its own Budget in December. ??

However, we also know that without significant public investment, Scotland’s long-term vision for housing, Housing to 2040, risks unravelling and becoming an impossible dream. As a member of the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board, I again made this point at a special meeting last month in which we discussed the Housing Emergency Action Plan which SFHA had set out with partners across the sector.? It was good to have the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, at the meeting, alongside the Minister for Housing, and the discussion centred on action and delivery.? ?

As ever, the devil is in the detail, and we will be looking to support a government approach to the emergency which has energy, clarity, and shared purpose to reflect the scale of the challenge ahead of us.???