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Concern raised about real terms decrease in social housing budgets in Scotland
All local authorities in Scotland but one are set to receive less cash for social housing this year than they did at the start of this parliament.
Concern raised about real terms decrease in social housing budgets in Scotland #UKhousingA Shelter Scotland analysis of government data finds 31 out of 32 local authorities have been allocated less funding in 2025/26 when compared to four years ago.
The City of Edinburgh Council was the only local authority to see an increase in its resource planning assumptions (RPA), which is the amount of money allocated to each local authority from the Scottish government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
Homelessness applications in the city have risen by over 33 per cent since 2021.
The Scottish government restored its affordable housebuilding programme to £768m for 2025-26, after it was cut in 2024 by a quarter.
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A spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) said: “The restoration of 2025/26 RPAs to 2023-24 levels was welcome and was a key message in COSLA’s budget lobbying campaign. However, this still represents a real terms decrease when compared to 2023/24 and will not go as far.
“Councils continue to face significant challenges in delivering affordable homes. It is imperative that local government is provided with the sustainable funding required to provide good quality affordable housing, reduce numbers on social housing waiting lists, and meet our statutory homeless duties."
Under a new funding formula agreed in April, five Scottish authorities are being targeted with £40m in cash after being identified as areas with high need: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
Alison Watson, director at Shelter Scotland, said: “It is time for Scotland’s politicians to be frank with the nation. There is no plan to end the housing emergency.”
She was critical of the Housing (Scotland) Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament, as she believes more radical action is needed. The bill proposes a maximum private rent cap of 6% and homelessness prevention duties for landlords.
Ms Watson added: “It has been a year since a national housing emergency was declared by the Scottish Parliament, but almost all local authorities continue to have less money to spend on new social homes than they did in 2021-22."
Paul McLennan, housing minister, said: “We have increased the affordable housing supply programme budget by £200m for 2025-26 to £768m."
“There is also an additional £4m invested in the Ending Homelessness Together budget for 2025-26 to help local authorities, frontline services and relevant partners prepare for the new prevention measures in the housing bill and to help them to respond to the housing emergency by preventing homelessness before it occurs.”
The concern comes as three Scottish housing organisations launched a research project to identify the number of new affordable homes needed ahead of next year’s Holyrood election.
Researchers will consider the success of Scotland’s current Affordable Housing Supply Programme and levels of demand to identify how many new homes are required.
The last findings, published in March 2020, identified that 53,000 affordable homes were needed in Scotland by 2026. Since then, 13 Scottish councils have declared a housing emergency, with the Scottish government declaring a nationwide housing emergency in May 2024.
Meanwhile, social housing completions fell by a quarter in 2024 amid a wider slump in housebuilding.
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