The Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) in Scotland has welcomed government plans to boost the housebuilding levels in the country.

Last week, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution Derek Mackay revealed in the draft Budget 2018-19 that £743 million is to be invested towards building 50,000 new homes over the lifetime of the current Scottish Parliament.

Welcoming the announcement, Executive Director of CIH Scotland Annie Mauger said it was also encouraging to hear reconfirmation of the Scottish Government's commitment to create a £50m 'Ending Homelessness Together' fund and to target this funding in accordance with the recommendations of the homelessness and rough sleeping action group.

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"CIH Scotland will continue to feed into the work of this important group to enable it to make a real difference," Ms Mauger said.

"In particular, we would highlight the significant success of Housing First initiatives across Scotland and the UK, as demonstrated by a special report recently published by CIH Scotland.

"Our hope is that the Scottish Government, guided by the homelessness and rough sleeping action group, will look seriously at further Housing First initiatives as a potential target for investment of the 'Ending Homelessness Together' fund over the forthcoming year."

(LM)