Significant drop in new home constructions highlights the housing issue that the new First Minister needs to address.

The release of the Quarterly Housing Statistics report yesterday has caused worries that there has been a decrease in the amount of affordable housing approvals, which has reached the lowest point in the past eight years.

As per the statistics, the initiation of privately-funded newly built homes dropped by 11% (i.e., 1,774 houses) during the year until September 2022. Similarly, there was a decline in the authorization of housing association newly constructed residences by 27% (i.e., 817 homes). In contrast, the launch of newly constructed homes by local authorities experienced a slight increase of 1% (i.e., 11 homes) during this period.

In the last quarter of 2022 (October to December), a total of 1,299 homes were approved as affordable. This means that in the past 12 months leading up to December 2022, 6,554 affordable homes were approved. This is a drop of 22% (1,860 homes) from the previous year's 8,414 homes, and is the lowest number of annual approvals since 2013. The number of approvals for social rent decreased by 21% (1,352 homes), other affordable rent decreased by 5% (48 homes), and affordable home ownership decreased by 41% (460 homes).

In response to the numbers, the SFHA's top executive Sally Thomas voiced concern stating that the statistics indicating a significant decrease of new housing association homes being initiated in the period ending September 2022 are alarming. These figures demonstrate the necessity for the new Scottish First Minister to prioritize the provision of social housing. Scotland's goal of constructing 110,000 new affordable homes by 2032 can only be realized through the involvement of housing associations. Therefore, the incoming First Minister must increase their efforts in supporting both housing associations and co-operatives to provide accommodation to individuals in need.

The top executive of Homes for Scotland, Jane Wood, is worried about the decrease in the number of new homes being built, which could make the existing problem of not having enough housing in Scotland even worse. This problem started in 2007 when only 25,000 homes were completed before the financial crisis, resulting in a shortage of over 110,000 homes.

Ms. Wood has stated that even though there has been an increase of ten per cent in new homes completed during the year ending in September 2022, with the number rising to 22,905 from 20,882, all good news is overshadowed by the unsettling 12 per cent decrease in the overall number of starts. The number has gone down to 19,227 from 21,807. What is most troubling is the noteworthy reduction of 27 per cent in the housing association approvals, holding grave consequences for the Scottish Government's Affordable Housing ambitions.

The selection of the new head of government provides a great chance to analyze the rules and other matters that are causing obstacles to building homes in different fields. This will guarantee that the housing situation in Scotland corresponds with the requirements and desires of all its inhabitants. Our group and its supporters are dedicated to accomplishing this goal.

A representative from the Scottish Government shared that Scotland has been at the forefront of providing economical housing throughout the United Kingdom. Over the past fourteen years, they have provided 118,124 reasonably priced homes, among which 83,291 homes have been available for social rent.

We understand that there are worldwide concerns that are influencing the construction field and causing a delay in the delivery of housing. Therefore, we are collaborating with multiple stakeholders in the construction sector and housing industry to reduce the impact of these issues as much as we can.

We are working together with our partners to achieve our common objective of providing homes that are more reasonably priced.