A new homeless family every 15 minutes: How SNP have fuelled Scotland's housing crisis
The SNP’s policies to tackle the housing emergency have backfired badly while the party’s pre-election gimmicks will not deliver the new homes that Scotland needs
It was back in May last year that a national housing emergency was formally declared by the Scottish Government. The announcement came after growing pressure from local authorities, housing organisations and charities as homelessness and temporary accommodation numbers reached record highs. A number of local councils, including in Edinburgh and Glasgow, had already declared their own local housing emergencies, pressuring the SNP government into action.
The data tells us that homelessness in Scotland is at record levels. In the year to March 2025, there were a staggering 40,688 homelessness applications, whilst rough sleeping is also on the increase. According to Shelter Scotland, rough sleeping has more than doubled in the four years since 2021, whilst the number of children in temporary accommodation has increased 26 per cent in the same period. Again, according to Shelter, a household becomes homeless every 15 minutes in Scotland.
At the root of this problem is a mismatch between the supply of and demand for housing. Scotland has a growing population and, even with that, demographic changes are increasing the demand for housing. People are living longer, and we have more single occupancy households, yet housebuilding has simply not kept up with this expansion. Moreover, we are seeing an overall population shift from West to East, meaning that many existing properties are in the wrong location.
SNP’s disastrous policies
Against this backdrop, what the government should be doing is everything in its power to encourage the creation of new homes, across all sectors of the market. This includes properties for sale, from starter flats to family homes and retirement dwellings, to social housing for affordable and mid-market rents. And yet, actions taken by the current SNP government have been disastrous when it comes to expanding housing supply.
The introduction of a rent freeze and then a rent cap when the then Scottish Green leader Patrick Harvie was a government minister led to an exodus of private landlords, resulting in rents in Scotland rising faster than any other part of the United Kingdom. It was the classic example of a policy which, whilst superficially attractive, proved entirely counterproductive in practice.
Industry experts estimate that Scotland has lost over £3 billion of investment in the build-to-rent sector as a direct result of the rent cap. That is money that went elsewhere and cannot be replaced, a fact that the SNP have belatedly recognised with their plans for new rent controls which specifically exclude new-build rental properties. But the damage has already been done.
We might expect the SNP to have learned from their mistakes and brought forward plans for the election to tackle the housing emergency. But what they propose may simply make matters worse.
£10,000 first-homes fund?
Last week John Swinney announced that private tenants will be given first refusal if the properties they occupy go up for sale, with the opportunity to purchase it at a “fair market rate”. But there is no detail given about how this would work in practice, and housing experts have questioned the practicalities of this scheme.
More seriously, concerns have been expressed by the Scottish Conservative housing lead Meghan Gallacher, amongst others, that these plans will simply reduce further the number of private rented properties being brought to the market, after the disaster of the rent cap.
Meanwhile, the SNP are pledging a First Homes Fund with up to £10,000 towards the deposit for a new house for first-time buyers, which they say would support 10,000 buyers a year buying eligible homes priced up to £300,000.
Those with long memories will recall that something similar was proposed by the SNP as far back as 2007, yet 19 years later still has not been delivered. Given the SNP’s track record, it is questionable whether we can trust their promises any more now than we did when they first came to power.
Nothing that the SNP propose to tackle housing suggests that they are treating the scale of the problem with any seriousness. We need urgent and immediate action to increase housing supply, which is the only way we are going to see costs reduce.
Helping developers build more homes
In contrast, the Scottish Conservative manifesto commits to a range of proposals which will make a real difference to encouraging housebuilding. Rent controls have to be ruled out, as should the building safety levy, which simply adds new costs to developers.
We have a commitment to no new costly housebuilding regulations in the next session of parliament which simply increase the cost of building a house, and that includes not forcing households into making energy-efficiency upgrades.
We would create a dedicated Brownfield Development Fund to encourage building on brownfield sites and derelict land, and promote more community involvement when it comes to the design of new housing projects.
Most significantly, we would follow the lead from Kemi Badenoch in scrapping LBTT or stamp duty on the purchase of all primary residences, making housing more affordable not just for first-time buyers but everyone.
To help the expansion of the private rented sector, we would cut the rate of the additional dwelling supplement from 8 to 4 per cent, making it easier for landlords to invest, and helping address the mismatch in supply and demand. These are the policies that will make a real difference to addressing Scotland’s housing emergency.
The data tells us that the SNP have missed previous housebuilding targets, and are set to fail to meet the current target to build 110,000 affordable homes between 2021 and 2032, as a result of their own policy choices.
The gimmicks the SNP offer for the coming election will not deliver the new homes Scotland needs. Only the Scottish Conservatives have the vision to ensure the current housing emergency comes to an end.
Murdo Fraser is the Scottish Conservative candidate for Perthshire North
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