‘Freefall’ in Scottish housebuilding sparks calls for emergency action

The figures reveal 17,336 homes were completed, a 13% annual fall, while new starts dropped 6% to 14,999. Affordable housing fared even worse, with approvals, starts and completions under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme falling 9%, 15% and 25% respectively.

Only 32,479 homes have been delivered toward the Scottish Government’s target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

Gillian McLees, national director of CIH Scotland, described the results as “a worrying trend”, acknowledging some encouragement from a 58% increase in affordable housing approvals and a 21% rise in starts in the final six months of 2025, but warned these improvements must be seen in context.

She called on the next Scottish Government to “prioritise the delivery of social housing and commit to the affordable housing target” evidenced in joint research by the or CIH Scotland, SFHA and Shelter Scotland, which found Scotland needs 15,693 social and affordable homes built annually over the next five years. Homes for Scotland (HFS) is calling for a minimum all-tenure target of 25,000 new homes per annum.

Richard Meade, CEO of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), was blunt in his assessment, describing the figures as “freefall” and calling for urgent political action ahead of May’s Scottish Parliament elections.

“It is simply unacceptable in modern-day Scotland that over 10,000 children are growing up in temporary accommodation whilst we’re seeing record lows in affordable housing being built,” he said, adding that no party could credibly promise a better future for Scotland without committing to the homes the country needs.

Homes for Scotland went furthest in its warnings, cautioning that Scotland is “heading for a housing catastrophe”.

Chief executive Jane Wood noted that private sector starts are at their lowest since 2013 and social sector starts at their lowest since records began.

She pointed to a deepening land supply crisis, with HFS research suggesting completions could collapse to just 5,000 per year by 2031, a further 70% decline, if constraints within the planning system are not urgently addressed.

Jane said the recent affordable housing budget cut of over 26%, which stalled more than 1,800 homes, made the modest improvements in late 2025 approvals “against an incredibly low bar.”

She urged all parties to commit to urgent action, warning: “The consequences of inaction are clear: fewer homes, rising housing costs and increasing social inequality across the country.”

All three organisations are united in calling on candidates ahead of May’s election to place housebuilding at the heart of their manifestos.