The Scottish Government recently announced that it had set aside £17million from its total projected spend of £120million to reinvigorate the Scottish economy in these recessionary days.
Deputy First Minister, NIcola Sturgeon has just announced the successful bidders for parts of this £17million allocation. The money will be spent by housing associations on unsold homes and land and on getting housing developments off the ground.
The government announced in August that it was bringing forward £100million from money it had set aside for 2010/11 in its £1.5billion affordable housing programme. Its intention is to kick start stalled housing developments. Since the August announcement, that money to be brought forward has been increased to £120million, with a pledge to spend £40million of it this financial year and £80million next year.
Argyll and Bute will share £3.7million with the Western Isles, Aberdeen, Angus, North Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire. This is to be used by housing associations to buy up land for developments.
Argyll and Bute will also share £3 million with Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, Borders, West Lothian, East Ayrshire and East Dunbartonshire. This allocation is to be spent on kick starting actual building.
£10.1million will fund the purchase of homes from private developers in Orkney, Dundee, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, East Lothian, Midlothian, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow.
Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, is anxious to discover how many of the resulting new homes will be for rent and is urging the government to spend the rest of the promised cash as soon as possible.