Too many cooks

The announcement of the creation of a Scottish Housing Trust to increase the supply of affordable rented homes is to be welcomed. However, a lot of meat has still to be put on the bones of this initiative and, notwithstanding the rhetoric surrounding its launch, it will be judged by the number of new homes it produces and at what cost.

This represents another new idea brought forward during the tenure of Alex Neil, Scotland’s current housing and communities minister. At recent events, he has called for radical change to Scotland’s housing systems to maximise outputs of new homes and rationalise the management and improvement of existing ones. That such change is needed is not in any doubt.

What is more problematic is: what that change is to consist of; how it will contribute to an overall vision and strategy for Scottish housing; how we will get from where we are to where we want to be.

The more cynical observers of the current administration in Scotland would suggest that the SHT is yet another new initiative to add to the plethora of others that populate the housing scene in Scotland without any indication of how it will contribute to a coherent vision and subsequent strategy to address the huge problems we face.

The problem, however, is not exclusively about the absence of a vision and accompanying strategy. The housing sector in Scotland is composed of a disproportionately large number of organisations representing large and small bits of it.

The singular absence is that of a united housing voice with which government, devolved or otherwise, has to deal. Too often, sectoral vested interests, whether they are local authority, housing association, professional bodies or whatever, get in the way of the provision of a sharp, informed and cohesive housing lobby that can exert focused and informed pressure to raise the subject up the political agenda. It is time that such vested interests were set aside and those at the helms of the bodies involved demonstrated the ‘savvy’ and desire to create a united approach.

Previous attempts to move this way have too often foundered because of egos, protectionism and a perceived dilution of status.

If we do not address the housing problems of Scotland soon in terms of choice and availability of affordable homes for all sections of society, we risk a substantial loss of our younger people. This would be catastrophic for the country at a time when among other things, there will be exponential growth of older people who will require support and care which must be funded by a vibrant economy in future. A significant loss of younger people would not allow for such economic conditions to prevail. We need to move now.

Brian Gegan is chief executive of Cairn Housing Association