The Scottish Government has announced a £22 million investment in the Charitable Bond Programme to increase affordable housing supply.

Through this program, funding is provided to housing providers Link and Cairn Housing Association to support the construction of over 150 new homes.

The Charitable Bond Programme, established in 2014, offers loans to social landlords for building affordable homes. The interest earned from these loans is reinvested into the affordable housing budget by the Scottish Government, enabling the construction of more social-rent homes.

With this latest extension, the total number of bonds issued will increase to 40, and the total investment will exceed £482m.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: "Tackling the housing emergency requires bold thinking and investment in Charitable Bonds is another tool we can use to increase investment in our affordable housing budget while also allowing social landlords to access vital funding to build new homes.

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"This has been a successful model in the past but is reliant on Financial Transaction funding from the UK Government. This funding, which is vital in housebuilding, has been cut by 62% since 2022.

"While we are demonstrating what we can do with the devolved powers and levers we have, it is vital that the UK Government reverses that cut so we can increase investment in the affordable housebuilding sector.

"We have a strong track record in affordable housing with 133,000 homes delivered since 2007, 93,000 of which are for social rent. However, tackling the housing emergency requires joint working from the Scottish and UK Governments and local authorities."

Peter Freer Director of Debt Capital Markets and Head of Allia C&C's Scottish Office said: "These two bond issues demonstrate the ongoing success of the Charitable Bond programme. With the Scottish Government's investment in the bonds, Allia has been able to provide Link with additional funding to support its significant development programme and make our first loan to Cairn Housing Association. Both organisations are providing much-needed new affordable homes, and we look forward to continuing our work with the Scottish Government to create more positive impact across Scotland."