We need 25k homes a year of all tenures, not just affordable, says FMB

Gordon Nelson, Director of FMB Scotland, said: “Let there be no mistake – Scotland is in the midst of a housing crisis and we need to build thousands of additional homes to keep pace with demand. Despite recent figures that may or may not demonstrate that the existing government has met its target for delivering new affordable homes, this distracts from the broader picture. The truth is, we need a huge increase in house building across all tenures – there is a demand among aspirational individuals and families that is simply not being met. A commitment by the next Government to build a minimum of 25,000 homes a year, backed by a strategy developed in partnership with the industry, would be a strong signal of intent. The SNP target to build 50,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of the next Parliament is welcome but what about homes of other tenure?”

Nelson concluded: “However, increasing the delivery of new housing is not without its challenges. One of the major barriers to house building currently is the ever-worsening skills shortage in the Scottish construction industry. Our most recent State of Trade Survey found that 60% of small construction firms are struggling to hire bricklayers and 54% of firms are finding it difficult to source carpenters and joiners. With 44,000 tradespeople expected to retire in Scotland over the next five to ten years, it’s vital that the next Government finds ways of increasing modern construction apprenticeships. Workloads may be increasing, but the lack of an adequate talent pool will act as a drag on housing delivery and growth. Construction is one of main drivers of the Scottish economy and a serious slowdown could damage to wider prosperity.”

The Federation of Master Builders will be launching its “Programme for Scottish Government” at a cross-party ‘Question Time’ panel discussion on Saturday 21st November featuring some of Scotland’s leading politicians:

• Jackie Baillie MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy and Member for Dumbarton (Labour)

• Alex Johnstone MSP, Shadow Minister for Communities and Housing and Member for North East Scotland (Conservative)

• Nigel Don MSP, Member for Angus North and Mearns (Scottish National Party)

• John Wilson MSP, Member for Central Scotland (Independent)

• Councillor Robert Brown, South Lanarkshire Council (Liberal Democrats)