Meeting of the Parliament 18 November 2015
I will make some progress, if the member does not mind.
It is an unavoidable truth that we need more affordable homes than the Scottish Government has built and many more than it is now committing to. We needed them yesterday. We must act swiftly and effectively, as the stakes are simply too high not to do so.
Supporting housing construction is supporting the Scottish economy. In 2014, £730 million was invested in land and building for homes. That was at a time when house building was at its lowest, but it still translated into £1.9 billion in increased economic output and £203 million in increased resident expenditure, according to Homes for Scotland. The direct economic benefit of housing construction is obvious and can be massive in scale. At the same time, 27,000 homes in Scotland sit empty with no long-term occupants.
Unfortunately, far too much of the affordable housing that exists is more likely to be of poor quality. Around half of those accommodations fall below minimum quality standards. We cannot ignore either the fact that 29,000 families in Scotland are currently assessed as being homeless and that around half of those households are led by a person who is under the age of 30.
The problems associated with homelessness go far beyond people not finding a place to rest their head at night. Often those without a home find themselves mentally and physically ill, and with serious damage to their self-confidence and dignity. That can be especially damaging for women who make homeless applications, who are younger overall than their male counterparts.
We must continue to look for solutions to end that growing problem. Increased investment in preventing homelessness and in the quality of accommodation is only the first step. A comprehensive, multilateral approach is needed to ensure that the basic right to a home is protected for everyone in Scotland who needs that help.
Many of those who seek shelter turn to temporary housing. Although that solution is effective in the short term, it is simply not sustainable in the long term. Such accommodation is more costly and is not conducive to good health in tenants. Children in such unfit conditions are far more likely to develop problems such as chronic coughing and asthma as a result of the quality of such accommodation.
Since 2008, temporary housing applications for households without dependent children have risen in volume by 26 per cent. Local authorities are unable to keep up with the demand, as more than 10,000 households with 4,000 children now seek such accommodation.
Fuel poverty is another issue that we must tackle as winter quickly approaches. An estimated 39 per cent of households in Scotland—or 940,000—are fuel poor, and 10 per cent are extremely fuel poor. The youngest and oldest among us routinely battle hypothermia as a result of being unable to adequately heat their domicile. Energy-efficient homes are simply vital to the wellbeing of the public and communities at large.