£10m loan offers solid foundations to housing

A new £10 million loan fund designed to kick-start housing projects that have stalled since the start of the credit crunch has been announced.

The Scottish Government said it has responded to calls from the industry to help housing companies, unable to secure private-sector finance, to invest in the infrastructure needed for projects to go ahead.

The Housebuilding Infrastructure Loans Fund will offer repayable loans to support physical infrastructure such as roads, sewers, decontamination, flood remediation and demolition.

Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, said: “Unlocking development in this way will deliver a major boost to the Scottish economy. We are working hard to mitigate the effects of Westminster’s short-sighted and economically damaging capital spending cuts.”

Jonathan Fair, chief executive of industry body Homes for Scotland, said: “With the number of new homes continuing to languish at stubbornly low levels, today’s announcement demonstrates that the Scottish Government is prepared to grasp the nettle in terms of the barriers to development in the current economic environment and begin to help break them down.”

Gavin Pope, land director at Cala Homes East (Ltd), said: “Cala Homes welcome any initiative that will help to break down some of the barriers faced by the housebuilding sector in Scotland.”