Deputy First Minister must explain housing shortfall - Finnie (Dumfries Liberal Democrats)

Dumfries Liberal Democrats <tom@therussells.org.uk>

Deputy First Minister must explain housing shortfall - Finnie

January 28, 2009 9:46 AM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Ross Finnie MSP, Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson, has called on the Deputy First Minister to explain why figures on affordable homes for rent are not available for Scotland outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Figures obtained from Glasgow and Edinburgh City Council's Housing Investment Departments by the SFHA show that 778 affordable homes for rent are projected to be completed in Glasgow and Edinburgh by April of this year. This is 37% down on the previous year. There is no information on the progress being made towards the projected figure for the rest of Scotland.

In November 2008, Nicola Sturgeon told the Local Government and Communities Committee that between 6000 and 7000 houses would be completed by the end of the financial year. Liberal Democrats want to know where the other 5000 homes will be built.

Commenting, Mr. Finnie said:

"There is a huge discrepancy between the official figures stated by council housing departments and those which the Deputy First Minister has stated as fact. Liberal Democrats along with housing organisations are understandably alarmed by this gulf.

"When the SFHA asked where the houses to bridge this gap will be built, and in what numbers, they were told that those figures are unavailable. The Deputy First Minister must come clean and explain why.

"If she was able to project the numbers for all of Scotland in November then the Government must know where these houses will be built. If not, then the Deputy First Minister had no right to make such predictions in the first place."