The SNP has said the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party are making the UK housing crisis “even worse” – as it emerged Michael Gove handed £1.9billion of funding back to the Treasury after failing to spend it on building affordable homes.
The news that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities handed back hundreds of millions budgeted for 2022-23, including £255m allocated to fund new affordable housing and £245m allocated to improve building safety, comes as the Bank of England warned monthly mortgage payments will rise by at least £500 for one million households.
It follows decades of Tory and Labour Party underinvestment in affordable and social housing across the UK, leading to millions of people facing increasingly unaffordable house prices and rents.
Despite admitting Britain’s housing system is “broken”, Michael Gove has also dropped a mandatory target for councils to build 300,000 new homes a year.
Under the SNP government, Scotland has consistently outpaced the rest of the UK in building affordable homes.
In the last financial year, Scotland built 10,458 affordable homes, an increase of 7% (701 homes) on the 9,757 homes completed in 2021/22, which amounted to 13.9 homes built per 10,000 population in Scotland, compared with 8.0 in Wales, 9.7 in England and 13.0 per 10,000 in Northern Ireland.
The number of affordable homes built in Scotland in 2022/23 was the highest since the current statistical series began in 2000.
Commenting, SNP Housing spokesperson Chris Stephens MP said:
“The Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party caused the UK housing crisis through decades of underinvestment – and now they’re making it even worse.
“It beggars belief that Michael Gove is scrapping targets and surrendering vital house-building funding, when millions of people are facing increasingly unaffordable house prices and rents.
“Worse still, the Tories and Labour Party are causing long-term damage to the availability of affordable housing by imposing Brexit, which has fuelled UK inflation, increased house building costs, and caused staffing shortages and supply chain issues in the building trade.
“The SNP is the only party offering real change with independence. Under the SNP government, Scotland has consistently outpaced the rest of the UK in building affordable homes – and with the full powers of independence Scotland can escape Westminster control, unleash our huge economic potential and build more homes.
“At the next election, voting SNP is the only way to secure independence, tackle the cost of living and get rid of unelected Tory government’s for good.”Tories a
