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Scottish Government underestimating housing need, Labour claims
The Scottish Government is underestimating social housing demand by around 30%, the Scottish Labour Party has claimed.
Analysis published by Scottish Labour today claims the Scottish Government estimate that there are 142,500 households on council waiting lists does not include people in the six councils which have transferred their stock to housing associations.
These are Glasgow, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Western Isles, Scottish Borders, and Inverclyde.
The Labour analysis suggests the real figure is closer to 200,000 with at least an extra 45,000 households on the waiting lists of the largest housing associations in each of these six areas. There are no figures available for these six councils because they have transferred their stock.
Labour used data from the Scottish Housing Regulator which includes housing association waiting lists.
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Shelter Scotland has said 60,000 affordable homes need to be built by the end of this parliament to address the housing shortage in the country. The government has a target to build 50,000 affordable homes in the same timeframe.
Pauline McNeill, Labour housing spokesperson, said: “We must have an accurate picture of the number of people waiting on a house so that we know how many homes are required. With the stock transfer authorities excluded from government figures, the scale of this problem is severely underestimated.
“It cannot be right that the whole of Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, is not included in the government’s waiting list for people needing a home.”
Although the government figures do not include the stock transfer councils, Inside Housing understands the government’s waiting list figures include double-counting because applicants are allowed to apply to multiple councils and housing associations for a home. The latest figure from the Scottish Household Survey, which does not include double-counting, puts the overall waiting list at 130,000 households.
Kevin Stewart, Scotland’s housing minister, said: “We have delivered 60,000 affordable homes in our time in office, reintroduced council housing, ended Right to Buy, and are supporting people into homeownership. In addition, we are building at a rate faster than anywhere else in the UK, and in fact we have built 41,000 more homes than would have been built at England’s slower per-capita rate. That’s the equivalent of a new town the size of Paisley.”
The estimated numbers for the six stock transfer associations are:
- Argyll Community Housing Association – 3360
- Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership – 4922
- Hebridean Housing Partnership – 578
- River Clyde Homes – 5024
- Scottish Borders Housing Association – 6705
- Glasgow Housing Association – 24,648
