Housing Associations Show Their Mettle in Recession

The announcement of the Scottish Government's latest housing statistics for 2008-9 was a tale of two halves really.

While private sector developments suffered a stark slump, the total number of houses built was buoyed by a 71 per cent increase in the number of new homes built by housing associations.

This was an excellent performance by the sector - getting shovel-ready, quality developments - badly needed across the country - online so quickly is a great achievement. It showed that, with extra investment, associations can deliver the homes that we need.

But for most of the media , there was only one story - private sector in freefall. The stats showed 62 percent fewer private sector starts in the latest quarter (2009 Q2) than in the same quarter last year. The latest four quarters together show a 51 percent reduction in private sector starts compared with the same quarters the previous year.

The SFHA though, flew the flag for the work done by housing associations in massively increasing their output in a short space of time.

SFHA Chief Executive Jacqui Watt (pictured) said:

“While the number of private homes built has slumped, housing associations have shown their mettle during this recession by getting a record number of affordable homes built in an incredibly short space of time.

“Our members have proved that, given the right funding, they are unbeatable at building quality affordable homes which strengthen communities across Scotland. They should be proud of the massive increase in new homes which their efforts have achieved, with every pound of public subsidy is supplemented by private investment.

“What’s more, these figures show that investing in housing is one of the most effective ways of generating economic activity quickly in the Scottish economy, providing jobs, apprenticeships and badly-needed quality housing in some of our hardest-hit communities.

“We commend the Scottish Government for increasing investment in affordable housing this year. But there is still a chronic housing shortage and Scotland is not out of recession yet. The SFHA would like to see significant investment in affordable housing maintained in the 2010-11 Budget in order that approvals do not drop next year. If the draft budget remains unchanged, investment will drop from £675 million in the current financial year to £471 million in 2010-11.

“We call on the Scottish and UK Governments to work together to target funding at this socially and economically beneficial area.”