The number of new council homes started in Scotland in 2010 doubled to 1,055, according to figures released by the Scottish Government on Wednesday
The figures also showed that there were 28,462 permanent social housing lettings in Scotland
Scottish Housing and Communities minister, Alex Neil, said: “Unlike Westminster we are not turning our back on social rented housing.
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Johann Lamont, chose to highlight what she called a “collapse in house building in Scotland”.
She said the total number of new build homes fell by 16% last year and that private sector completions were at their lowest level since the early 1980s.
Ms Lamont believes that the increase in building by the public sector is unlikely to be sustained because “housing has been the biggest loser from successive SNP budgets and faces a cut of almost £100 million”.
In response to both parties, Gavin Corbett, head of policy at Shelter Scotland, said: “Let’s not forget that there are still 160,000 households on waiting lists for affordable homes”.
He urged whoever was in power after the May elections to commit to a new era of building many more homes, protecting the ones we have and refurbishing existing stock.
Ths article was published on the Inside Housing website on Wednesday, 2 March, 2011.
http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/rachel-salmon/563.contributor
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