Construction union UCATT have given a cautious welcome to the campaign launched by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to increase the number of homes being built for rent.

The initiative titled the Year of the Home Coming Campaign is seeking funding to build 10,000 new homes to meet the increasing level of social housing need in Scotland.

UCATT entirely supports the need to increase the amount of social housing being built but believes that local authorities should take the lead in providing homes for rent. Housing associations have never succeeded in building sufficient units to meet people’s housing needs.

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Harry Frew, regional secretary for UCATT Scotland, said: "Any campaign which promotes the need for social housing is to be welcomed. However the experience of the past 25 years is that housing associations are not able to build the volume of housing necessary to meet demands. Local authorities must be given the funding to act as the catalyst to ensure there is a major expansion in the building of social housing for rent."

The Scottish Parliament calculates there are 40,000 people currently officially registered as homeless in Scotland. The number of people on housing waiting lists is far in excess of this figure.

(GK/JM)