Up To £50 Million To Unlock New Housing

5th October 2021

Up to £50 million will be given to councils and social landlords to build housing infrastructure which will help deliver new homes across the country.

Over the next five years grants from the Housing Infrastructure Fund will be used to build infrastructure to serve new housing developments and create new, stronger communities.

The first grant, worth nearly £5 million, has been awarded today to Fife Council to support delivery of 8,000 new homes across Dunfermline as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City region City Deal.

This will be the second round of the fund, which has awarded £48 million in loans and grants since 2016, helping deliver up to 12,000 new homes.

Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: "This funding allows local authorities and registered social landlords to build crucial infrastructure which will unlock new building development sites, helping speed up the delivery of housing.

"It is fitting that this fund is launching in Challenge Poverty Week, as housing can play a vital role in tackling poverty. We want everyone in Scotland to have a warm, safe, affordable home that meets their needs, and these grants will be crucial in helping us achieve our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, building on our success in delivering more than 103,000 since 2007.

"The first grant for housing infrastructure projects in Dunfermline shows our continued support for City Region Deals, helping boost economic growth and create new jobs. The Scottish Government is investing £300 million in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City region over 15 years, supporting housing, innovation, transport, skills and culture."

Cllr David Alexander, Fife Council Co-leader, said:"I would like to thank the Planning Services for the hard work it has put into progressing this proposal over the last two years.

"As a council we will deliver a major investment programme in strategic transportation infrastructure in Dunfermline to support the delivery of affordable homes and wider development. Such investment will accelerate inclusive growth, create new economic opportunities, and new jobs that will help to reduce inequalities in the Dunfermline area and beyond."

Cllr David Ross, Fife Council Co-Leader, said:"This is one of the key benefits we are getting from the City Region Deal and is crucial to Dunfermline's development. The Dunfermline strategic development programme will not only assist Fife's post-COVID-19 economic recovery, but will also unlock the delivery of up to 2,000 affordable houses.

"This infrastructure is essential to facilitating and delivering the council's adopted Local Development Plan sites as part of the strategic growth of Dunfermline and to assist in achieving Plan4Fife, Fife's Local Outcome Improvement Plan, outcomes. The Housing Infrastructure Fund will facilitate investment in essential new strategic transportation infrastructure in the Dunfermline area."

Note
Questions needs to be asked about what Affordable Housing means in Highland - See Affordable Housing Is A Myth - 4 October 2021.

Note
Infrastructure is not the actual homes but means to achieve them.
See below for previous amounts for the homes.
16 July 2021
3 billion in grant funding over five years to deliver more affordable homes

Note
Take care when thinking about Affordable rent as it may not mean cheap - see this definition - What is Affordable rent (also called Intermediate Rent)?
Affordable rent is rent that is set at up to 80% of market rent (including service charges).These properties of affordable rents are defined as ‘low cost' rental accommodation and and so also class as ‘social housing'. This means that they are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing. This means that homes will remain more affordable than renting on the private rental market. You could argue that all rent should be ‘affordable', but in this sense it means 80% of market rent.

Highland council has in recent years built some houses that are at higher rental levels than other council houses but still considered Social Housing as this was the only way they could afford to build them.

Waiting lists for social housing have continued to grow over recent years.