The Scottish Government has committed an additional £43 million to its loan-based Charitable Bonds programme to help deliver more safe, warm and affordable homes and support efforts to address the housing emergency.

The scheme provides loans to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), with interest from repayments recycled into affordable housing. Since 2014, it has helped deliver around 4,500 properties and generated a further £175.6 million towards completing more affordable homes.

The latest allocation brings total investment in 2025-26 to £78 million. Recent bond issues have gone to Kingdom, Eildon, Cairn, Govanhill, Lochalsh & Skye, Lochaber and Wheatley housing associations.

Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said: "The Charitable Bonds programme shows our determination to make best use of different streams of finance to deliver more warm, safe and affordable homes for hundreds of families.

"This sits alongside our commitment to deliver up to £4.9 billion of investment over the coming four years, with homes delivered through a mixture of public and private investment. This will support the delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and is estimated to provide a place to live for up to 24,000 children.

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"As we develop plans for our new housing agency, More Homes Scotland, it is my intention that it will deliver innovative finance models like this one to deliver more housing across the country."

Kingdom Group Finance Director Lesley Janes said: "The Charitable Bonds programme is a proven model that works, delivering thousands of affordable homes across Scotland, and this additional investment keeps that momentum going.

"For Kingdom, access to this kind of funding is central to our ambitious development programme and our commitment to help tackle the housing emergency. We're proud to be part of a partnership that puts more warm, safe, affordable homes within reach of the people and communities that need them most."

Allia C&C Director and Head of Scottish Office Peter Freer said: "Allia C&C has been delivering the Bond programme for over 10 years and is enormously proud of what it has achieved in that time. The programme provides a unique and straightforward funding solution that has helped channel a further £78m of Scottish Government investment into much-needed new affordable homes across Scotland.

"This brings total investment in the programme to £585m - delivered to 39 RSLs ranging from the largest associations to the smallest, spanning rural and urban areas and, crucially, reaching every corner of the country. As the need for good-quality affordable housing remains as pressing as ever, we very much hope the programme continues to go from strength to strength."

To maximise opportunities for delivery, ministers intend to open up the scheme to a wider range of affordable housing providers in future, with a new procurement process for its administration due to begin later this year.

The loan element of the bonds will support developments across rural and urban Scotland, including: 30 homes in Skye and Raasay; 35 in Galashiels; 40 in Fort William and Mallaig; 28 in Irvine and East Whitburn; and further ongoing projects across Fife, Edinburgh, the Lothians, Glasgow and Dumfries & Galloway.