Alright, so there’s been a lot of noise lately about the Scots housing minister possibly getting the boot. Apparently, the push to build affordable housing and tackle homelessness in Scotland hasn’t been going so great, with experts and building pros saying the government needs to step up its game.
It turns out that new housebuilding in Scotland hit a five-year low recently, and the number of publicly funded affordable homes being completed is also at a post-pandemic low. Like, seriously, only 20,364 new houses were available in Scotland in 2023/24, which is the lowest number since 2018/19.
Calls have been made for the housing minister, Paul McLennan, to be shown the door because of all this mess. The Scottish Government did increase funding for affordable housing to £768 million in 2025/26, but it seems like it’s not enough to make up for past cuts and keep up with rising costs. People are saying that hundreds of millions more are needed each year to meet the demand for affordable housing.
