Poll from Scottish Federation of Housing Associations comes as First Minister addresses its 50^th anniversary conference  

Around three quarters of Scots believe the housing system is unfairly stacked against young people, as a new poll revealed mass public support for building more social homes.

The research from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and YouGov found that 74% of Scots believed the housing system was “unfair” to young people, an opinion shared across all age groups including 75% of those aged 65 and over.

Figures for Scotland’s largest cities were even more pronounced with 80% of those in the Lothians and 89% of those in Glasgow saying the system was unfair.

In May last year the Scottish Parliament voted to declare a national housing emergency, a decision which followed similar declarations across various local authorities including Glasgow and Edinburgh, most of whom cited a chronic lack of social housing.

SFHA’s research also found that the vast amount of the public – some 71% –  believes Scotland needs more social homes to address its housing emergency.

Social homes are homes provided by local authorities or housing associations and offer secure long-term tenancies with rents typically averaging half the amount in the private rented sector.

SFHA, who represent Scotland’s housing associations, is celebrating its 50^th anniversary with a landmark conference in Glasgow this week which will be addressed by the First Minister.

 

The housing body has urged the Scottish Government to commit to significantly increased funding for housing associations through a multi-year funding settlement, something it hopes can be delivered following the Chancellor’s Spending Review later this week.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, will set out plans for UK Government spending where it is expected she will reveal details on multi-year spending commitments for Government departments including housing.

Responsibility for housing is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, so SFHA has called on Scottish Government to reinvest any funding consequentials from the Spending Review into Scotland’s affordable homes programme.

Sally Thomas, SFHA Chief Executive, said: “This poll reveals the devastating impact of Scotland’s housing emergency and a system which for too many people, particularly the younger generation, remains desperately unaffordable, insecure, and unfair.

“We are delighted that the First Minister will address Scotland’s housing associations at SFHA’s Annual Conference. As SFHA marks its 50^th anniversary, a landmark shared by many of Scotland’s housing associations, we need to build on the legacy of the high-quality, affordable, and secure homes housing associations provide by giving them the funding to build more of them.

“Our poll demonstrates the mass public support for building more social homes. The key to achieving this goal is long-term funding certainty to housing associations to deliver the homes Scotland desperately needs.”

“The Scottish Government has been clear that they need UK-level action to unlock this long-term funding, so we want to see swift action from Scottish Ministers following Wednesday’s Spending Review”.