Tories vow to build 80,000 affordable homes and end SNP immigration and net zero housing policies
The Scottish Tories have vowed to axe the SNP government’s housing policies on immigration and net zero in an apparent appeal to Reform UK voters.
The Scottish Tories have vowed to build 80,000 affordable homes over the next five years - alongside a host of housing policies aimed at appealing to Reform voters.
The SNP government remains committed to delivering 110,00 affordable homes by 2032, but little more than 32,000 have been delivered so far, according to the latest figures.
Analysis from Shelter Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, has found Scotland needs a minimum of 15,693 affordable homes a year in the next five years - a total of 78,465.
The Scottish Conservatives have argued that by “scrapping red tape and the SNP’s failed planning framework”, the 80,000 target can be achieved.
The party has also pledged to reinstate the local connection rule that has been jumped on by opponents to the Scottish Government’s more welcoming rules for newly-granted refugees and has committed to ending the use of hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum by the UK government Home Office.
In a further move to appeal to voters supportive of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, the Scottish Tories have vowed to scrap the Scottish Government’s ban on fossil fuel gas boilers for new-build homes.
Scottish Conservative housing spokesperson, Meghan Gallacher, said: “After 19 years of SNP failure, Scotland is in a housing emergency.
“Housebuilding has stalled due to their budget cuts, rent controls and open-door immigration policies. As a result, homelessness is rising and vulnerable families are being left in the lurch.”
She said the 80,000 affordable homes target was “clear and deliverable”.
Ms Gallacher added: “To make that happen, we will take a common-sense approach – scrapping red tape and the SNP’s failed planning framework, and empowering councils to build the homes their areas actually require.
“But we must also restore safeguards in the homelessness system by reversing the SNP’s reckless decision to scrap the local connection rule, which has made Glasgow a magnet for asylum seekers.
“We will end the use of migrant hotels, returning these buildings to their original purpose.”
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