Fife housing emergency: No more money from Scottish or UK governments


John Mills, the head of housing services, told the Fife Partnership Board on Tuesday that there’s no more money coming to help Fife out of the housing crisis.
“At the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Scottish Housing Festival, the Housing Minister made it clear that, in addition to the significant and irreversible cut to the Affordable Housing Budget of £200m in 2024/25, there would be no financial support for local authorities declaring housing emergencies,” he told the Fife Partnership board.
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Hide Ad“There is also unlikely to be any support from the UK Government which means that the housing emergency action plan will have to be funded internally.”
Mr Mills went on to say that Holyrood has additionally warned Fife that it intends to make further cuts to the affordable housing budget – which helps local authorities fund the construction of affordable and mid-market rental homes.
“The affordable housing programme has been reduced by 27 per cent in Fife’s case [this year]. That’s a reduction of around £9.5 million of government subsidy,” Mr Mills said.
“Now they’ve actually asked us in a letter on Monday to plan for 80 per cent of that level for 2025/26. So cumulatively, we’re looking at around a 46 per cent reduction in Fife making new starts on sites of social rented and mid market rented housing.”
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Hide AdHe added: “That’s a significant impact which will have an impact on our ability to keep building and keep housing people.”
Although Mr Mills has said Fife is unlikely to see any monetary help coming, the council’s housing emergency action plan is due to be discussed at the Cabinet Committee meeting on June 6.
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