1,000 affordable Scottish Homes

Plans have been revealed that will help 1,000 affordable homes to be built across Scotland.

An investment of £55M (as a loan from the Scottish Government), which matches private investment to bring a total of £100M, which will be made available to the Local Affordable Rented Housing Trust (LAR), the Scottish charity set up to provide long-term, mid market rented housing across Scotland.

Working in partnership with LAR and local authorities, house builders and developers will be encouraged to help provide affordable housing to eligible tenants.

LAR builds on the Scottish Government’s successful National Housing Trust initiative and means, since 2012, approaching 4,000 new affordable homes have been approved through a range of innovative financing mechanisms, unlocking up to half a billion pounds of housing investment.

It is hoped that the LAR model can be replicated and extended to help meet the demand for more affordable homes.

In Musselburgh, where East Lothian Council and Taylor Wimpey are set to deliver the first LAR housing development, Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil said: “We continue to lead the way in the UK in developing innovative financial models, such as guarantees, loans, grant recycling and new sources of private funding to accelerate the supply of affordable homes. These pioneering approaches help us to make taxpayers’ money stretch further.

“LAR will deliver up to 1,000 homes for mid-market rent offering tenants high quality, affordable mid-rent homes across Scotland, supporting local communities to thrive, tackling inequality and addressing housing need.

“These homes will be in addition to the 30,000 affordable homes, of which at least two thirds will be for social rent, that will be delivered by the end of this Parliament. And there is potential for this model to be extended more widely to meet the significant demand for mid-rent housing.”

Raymond Williamson, Chairman of LAR, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Scottish Government for providing initial funding to LAR.

“The LAR team is looking at a number of development sites across Scotla nd where we can buy homes, which have been or are in the process of being constructed and we would be pleased to hear from builders and developers across Scotland who believe they have something to offer. This is an important step forward in providing homes at reasonable rents.”

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