Scottish government declares national housing emergency

The Scottish government has declared a national housing emergency.

The announcement came during a Labour-led debate at Holyrood calling for the move.

SNP ministers have cited UK government budget cuts and austerity.

But UK ministers said that the Scottish government receives about 25% more funding from Whitehall than other parts of the UK.

The SNP previously voted against a Labour motion declaring a housing emergency in November.

Since then, with the end of a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens, the Scottish government lost its majority in Holyrood and faced potential defeat in the debate on the emergency this afternoon.

By changing position and conceding there is a housing emergency, ministers avoided what could have been a difficult moment in parliament.

First Minister John Swinney told BBC Scotland News: “What we want to do today is to reach out to other parties and to recognise the significance of the challenge that exists.”

He added: “We have to recognise that the government does not have a limitless amount of money and we can’t invest everything if our capital budget is being reduced by the UK government.”

Last year, Argyll and Bute, City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City councils all declared housing emergencies.

Fife Council made the same move in March followed by West Dunbartonshire earlier this month.

Declaring an emergency is a signal to government that the current situation is not working and there needs to be intervention.

The councils cited issues ranging from pressure on homelessness services, rising property prices and high levels of temporary accommodation.

By declaring an emergency, the Scottish government is formally recognising the housing problem and calling for cuts to its capital budget to be reversed.

However, there are no practical effects that automatically happen due to a declaration being made.

The SNP amendment to the Labour motion added that the housing situation had been caused by a “combination” of issues – including UK government austerity, inflation, labour shortages linked to Brexit, and a freeze to local housing allowance rates.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said that a “joint approach” between Holyrood, Westminster and local authorities would be needed to combat housing problems.

She said she would use all the powers at her disposal to try and address the housing situation, which she called “one of the defining issues of a generation”.

A young mother who recently faced eviction after years of living in temporary accommodation has finally secured a permanent council flat.

For almost a decade, Stacey and her six-year-old son Archie had been moved around several homeless flats by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The BBC has been following her journey through Scotland’s housing emergency.

The Scottish Greens tabled an amendment to the non-binding Labour motion calling for a nationwide system of rent controls to be committed to in the new housing bill – which was devised during the party’s time in government.

Ms Somerville told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland the Scottish government would consider expanding powers on rent controls to help bring down charges in the private sector.

She said: “We’ve got a housing bill about to go through parliament which strengthens homelessness duties and also deals with some of the challenges of the private rented sector.

“We do need to look at rent controls in that area and the housing minister has, just in April, convened the housing investment taskforce to look where we can provide more innovative routes to finance for the private sector.”

Scottish Labour accused the Scottish government of making “brutal” cuts to the housing budget.

Labour’s housing spokesman Mark Griffin said the SNP’s approach to the emergency had “actively fanned its flames” due to budget cuts.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said previous attempts to declare a housing emergency at Holyrood had been ignored by the Scottish government.

He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland that the SNP had taken “political decisions” that had harmed the housing sector

He added: “It’s all very well and good the government say there is a housing emergency, what are they going to do to sort it?”

In the budget earlier this year the Scottish government cut the affordable housing budget by £200m, around 26% from 2023-24.

The then finance secretary, Shona Robison, said this was due to Westminster cuts.

In one of his final acts as first minister last month, Humza Yousaf announced an £80m increase to the same budget over two years. This will result in a cut of £163m, or 22%, in real terms from 2023-24.

A UK government spokesperson said: “Decisions at Spring Budget took our direct investment in levelling up Scotland past the £3bn mark.

“The Scottish government receives around 25% more funding per person than equivalent UK government spending in other parts of the UK through its record £41bn per year settlement.”