New figures have revealed a 30% rise in the number of 'affordable' homes approved over the last year.

From the year to end June 2017, a total of 10,612 'affordable' homes have been approved, while between 2015/16 and 2016/17 the number of new house builds started (across the public and private sector) rose by 4% from 17,765 to 18,391.

With the number of new housing starts increasing for the fourth consecutive period, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said the figures showed good progress is being made towards delivering the Government's target of 50,000 'affordable' homes by 2021.

"One of the most important factors in any person's quality of life is their housing and access to good quality, warm and affordable housing is a vital part of our drive to secure economic growth, strengthen communities and tackle inequalities," he said.

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"This Government is committed to delivering more affordable housing per head of the population than the UK Government. We are offering significantly more grant funding for each unit of affordable housing, with each unit in Scotland supported by an average of £52,400 compared to just £25,300 in England.

"We're also building social housing at a faster rate than any other part of the UK, with the total number of social sector homes started by the end of June 2017 increasing to 6,234, 32% more than the year to end 2016.

"Over the lifetime of this Parliament, we will invest more than £3 billion to deliver 50,000 affordable homes. This is a massive investment backing up our target which is ambitious, challenging and absolutely necessary."

Elsewhere, sales of public authority dwellings (including local authorities with total stock transfers) increased by 68% to 3,510, due to Scotland ending the Right to Buy scheme in August 2016.

In addition, there was a marginal decrease in private sector completions compared to 2015-2016, however the total number of completions between January and March 2017 increased by 5% compared to the same quarter in 2016.

Mr Stewart continued: "The end of Right to Buy in August 2016 marked a major milestone in our efforts to build a sustainable housing policy for the future and it is absolutely vital that people can access social housing when they need it most.

"We have a range of support measures in place to support the private sector housing industry.  At the same time we will keep a close eye on the sector and stand ready to discuss solutions to help stimulate future growth and demand."

(LM)