A Scottish housing association has told Holyrood’s Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee that new policy on housing investment needs to be urgently reviewed.

The Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) has challenged the Committee over the new rules.

Giving evidence to the Committee this week, Fraser Stewart, Director of New Gorbals Housing Association and GWSF's Lead Member for housing investment, told MSPs the new financial framework had placed its targets for building 21,000 new social rented houses in serious jeopardy.


Mr Stewart said the government was "failing to analyse the impact of greatly reduced grant levels on tenants, the housing sector or on the achievement of its own strategic objectives, for example in relation to city and town centre regeneration and high quality placemaking."

While giving evidence, he said it was fantasy to assume £85,000 of private borrowing or contributions from reserves for every new house could be sustained.

"Financial capacity has already been squeezed," he warned.

Furthermore, Mr Stewart said continuing to rely on the new policy would place housing associations at "serious financial risk" and could lead many to halt new development at any degree or scale.

A statement from GWSF concluded: "Having squeezed reserves and borrowing capacity, the Government is now approving new build rents at far higher levels than we have ever seen.

"This will have serious consequences for low-income households."

(IT)