Budget cuts hit Highland house building

This comes after the Scottish Government confirmed last month it is slashing its housing and regeneration budget for 2010/11 by nearly £200 million to £448 million.

The Highland local authority figures show its grant from the Scottish Government for affordable housing will go from £32 million to £17.5 million.

Allan Maguire, head of housing development at the Highlands, said: ‘We are meeting with the Scottish Government officials and housing association partners and working with them, looking through the details of our provisional programme to see how much we can continue to develop.’

He explained there were 350 homes planned in the housing association building programme but this was likely to be cut to 200.

The council, which calculates there is a shortfall of 4,000 affordable homes in the area, will continue to build its 55 homes.

A spokesperson from industry body the Scottish Building Federation said the picture was likely to be repeated across Scotland as local authorities work out their housing budgets for next year.

SBF chief executive Michael Levack said: ‘We expected cuts but these are even worse than we had feared. This is yet another hammer blow for the Highland construction industry.’

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘These are simply planning assumptions, housing allocations have yet to be announced.

‘The Scottish Government’s decision to accelerate our investment in affordable housing has paid dividends in the Highlands.

‘In recent difficult times we have brought forward £120 million to speed up the supply of affordable housing for families, right across the country, whilst supporting jobs and the local construction industry.

‘In addition, Highland Council has received nearly £1.3 million to kick-start a new generation of council houses.’

Have your say

You must sign in to make a comment