In yesterday’s UK government Spending Review, Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined plans to invest £39 billion in affordable and social housing over the next 10 years, to help achieve the target of 1.5 million new homes by 2030. 

Further commitments included £10bn for financial investments, to be delivered through Homes England, to help unlock hundreds of thousands more homes. In addition, the government has allocated £1.2bn a year by 2029 to support more than one million young people in training and apprenticeships.

According to the Treasury, the Spending Review will see the Scottish Government receive an average extra £2.9bn through the operation of the Barnett formula, meaning it will have 20% more to spend per individual than comparable UK Government spending for people in the rest of the UK.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement of a 10-year funding settlement for England, the SFHA now expects the Scottish Government to end the uncertainty of yearly budgets, something it says has hampered the housing sector’s confidence to build.

SFHA chief executive Sally Thomas said: “(This) Spending Review represents a considerable boost for housing in England and enables the Scottish Government to back the country’s housing associations on a long-term basis.

“We expect the Scottish Government to seize this opportunity and chart a course out of the housing emergency by introducing a multi-year funding package for housing associations. This was something the First Minister told SFHA’s Annual Conference he was confident of pending the Chancellor’s Spending Review, which now gives him the opportunity to deliver on.

“It’s time to end the uncertainty of budgets which change one year from the next and empower our housing associations to build a better future for everyone who needs a safe, warm and affordable home.”

CIH Scotland said it is pleased to see Scotland get a lift through the Barnett formula, with £2.4 billion of day-to-day spending for the next three years and over £510 million of capital for the next four years.

“We all hope that the SG use this newfound budget flexibility to earmark every penny of this capital uplift for affordable and social housing,” a spokesperson said.

“On the day a dedicated Cabinet post for housing was created it would show a welcome prioritisation from the Scottish Government to use these capital consequentials on addressing both the housing emergency and climate emergency by building safe, warm, affordable net zero homes.”

Shelter Scotland director Alison Watson said: “The UK Government has finally recognised the importance of social housing and placed it at the heart of the Chancellor’s plans.

“If additional funding is made available, only the Scottish Government can decide how it is allocated. But if the First Minister is serious about tackling the housing emergency and ending child poverty, housing must be a priority.

“We demand that any consequentials arising from this investment in housing in England are passed directly to Scotland’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme. This is already the case with NHS spending — housing should be no different. After all, home is everything.

“We know that building more social homes is the only way to tackle the housing emergency. It is the only way we can move the 10,360 children currently in temporary accommodation into secure, permanent homes.”