The Scottish government set in 2021 a long-term vision for housing “for everyone to have a safe, high-quality home that is affordable and meets their needs in the place they want to live”. Much has happened in housing since then but very little of it has been positive: housing starts are down, rent and mortgage costs are up, and the affordable housing budget has been cut by nearly £200 million.
The human cost is staggering. Research commissioned by Homes for Scotland identified that 28 per cent of households in Scotland have an unmet housing need. However you want to define it, this is a housing emergency. Little over a month ago, the government introduced the Housing (Scotland) Bill. If ever there was a vehicle to
