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Scottish government will not announce post-2021 housing plans until after UK Budget, says housing minister
The Scottish government will “wait and see what comes out of the UK Budget” before announcing its housing plans for the period after 2021, the Scottish housing minister has said.
Speaking to Inside Housing at the SNP conference, Kevin Stewart said the Scottish government “can’t really make plans for the future” until it knows what is coming from the UK Treasury.
The SNP government has currently pledged to build 50,000 affordable homes, of which 30,000 will be for social rent, before its parliamentary term ends in 2021.
However, last month, Sally Thomas, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), said post-2021 housing plans were needed as a “matter of urgency”.
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Mr Stewart said he understands why the housing sector is calling for plans to be announced sooner but said “we all have to have a bit of patience”.
While the next Scottish government Budget is due to take place in December, Mr Stewart said the government may only be able to lay out plans for one year, depending on the UK government.
Chancellor Sajid Javid announced yesterday that he will hold the UK’s “first budget after leaving the EU” on 6 November, however Mr Stewart expressed doubt over whether a Budget would take place on this date.
When asked whether he was worried that a lack of certainty could lead to a decrease in supply post 2021, Mr Stewart said the housing sector in Scotland has more certainty than ever before.
He said: “I would say that folk have got more certainty at this moment in time when they’ve got certainty until 2021, whereas before they would have only had the year, year, year scenario… and I think some folk forget that.
“When a change is made, folk forget what happened five minutes before. I understand that people want us to make announcements as soon as.
“We will continue to have discussions within government but in order for us to get this absolutely right, we actually need to know what the UK government’s spending plans are.”
