Calls for ‘urgent action’ as housing crisis fears grow
A Perth and Kinross councillor has called for urgent action as the area faces an“impending crisis” in housing.
Cllr Peter Barrett warned “site availability and supply is drying up”.
After making the plea at last week’s meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) Finance and Resources Committee, the Perth City Centre councillor met with Scotland’s Housing minister Paul Mclennan to appeal for more funding.
At the April 24 meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee, Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Barrett told fellow elected members: “I think there is an impending crisis in the council’s housing programme.”
He pointed to land supply issues and added: “There is a grave danger we might not meet our affordable housing targets if the Housing and Social Wellbeing convener does not grasp the nettle on this.”
Following the meeting, he expanded on his concerns.
He said although the local authority exceeded its target for council house buy-backs it fell short of its target for new-build homes for 2023/24.
Cllr Barrett said: “Buy-backs are on the bright side with 43 achieved against a target of 30. But worryingly the performance against the target for new completions wipes that out. There the target was 210 but only 174 were delivered.”
He described the situation as “dire” and fears next year could be even more challenging.
The Perth City Centre councillor said: “We are at a crisis point and without shovel-ready sites there is a real risk of far fewer council houses construction starts for 2024/25. Without urgent action we could end up well short and not even reach last year’s figures.
“The situation is dire; we might not be able to spend the Housing grant we do receive from the Scottish Government - something that hasn’t happened for 20 years.”
Cllr Barrett has called for the Affordable Housing Member0fficer Working Group to be re-established and urged SNP council leader Grant Laing and PKC’S chief executive Thomas Glen to review all PKC’S land and property holdings to identify affordable housing sites.
He said: “We need the Strategic Investment Advisory Group to review all our potential housing assets. Land values have changed dramatically, site availability and supply is drying up and the Scottish Government has cut funding for affordable housing.”
Following last week’s committee meeting, Cllr Barrett met with the Minister for Housing Paul Mclennan to discuss the housing challenges Perth and Kinross is facing.
He said: “I invited Mr Maclennan to visit Perth to discuss funding issues and how we might attract new investment in affordable housing in Perth.”
Housing and social wellbeing committee convener Tom Mcewan has responded to the concerns raised by Cllr Barrett.
The SNP councillor acknowledged the reduction in the number of newbuilds was “not ideal” and said independence was the solution for more economic control.
Cllr Mcewan said: “It is a priority of this SNP minority administration to take every opportunity to maximise the number of new and repurposed properties we make available in Perth and Kinross to take more children out of poverty and reduce the number waiting for a suitable home.
“The reduced number of new builds in 2023/24 is not ideal but is part of fluctuations from year to year due to circumstances the council cannot control.
“There are many demands on the building sector: inflation, construction costs and availability of skilled professional labour to mention a few. It is not a surprise that - under these inflicted circumstances - new house building is under pressure. The solution for Scotland and its people is independence; control over all the economic levers is essential so we can maximise fulfilling this essential priority of building new social and affordable homes, which will be key to tackling poverty in Perth and Kinross.”
The Blairgowrie and Glens councillor added: “The affordable housing programme for Perth and Kinross Council projects 216 new affordable homes in 2024-25 to be delivered by PKC and our affordable housing partners in the form of 158 new build homes that are currently being constructed on site, with 48 buybacks properties (in 2023/24) and return of empty homes to affordable use.
“In total, this is anticipated to meet the target of an average of 210 affordable homes per year as defined in the Local Housing Strategy 2022-2027.
“The Local Housing Strategy 2022-27 covers a five-year period in which yearly delivery can be over and under.
“In the previous financial year (2022-23) a total of 220 new supply affordable homes were achieved through the same delivery mechanisms.
“These fluctuations are closely monitored and movements of new build plans from one year to another are all normal fluctuations.”