Hansard

That intervention shows the lack of depth of understanding of the problem. The issues are health issues, which spending on housing will improve.

If we want to find more money for housing, we will find it. Labour will bring forward its proposals on that. However, to resort to the tired old arguments—[Interruption.] The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights is laughing, because he thinks this is funny. The reality is that the Scottish Government is making a commitment to build 10,000 fewer homes than people say we need, yet John Mason wants to argue about whether we would transfer money from health or transport into the housing budget. We will find the money, because we want to build the houses. That is the priority.

The new homes that are being built need good insulation, energy-efficient systems and effective heating measures, to name but a few suggestions, but we must also work to ensure that existing homes are fitted out to make heating them successfully affordable and environmentally friendly. As a party, we believe that access to low-cost energy is vital, and it is past time that we had effective policies enacted on that principle.

The social benefits of housing construction go further than getting people off the streets and into safe homes. Homes for Scotland has estimated that more than 135,000 trees and shrubs were planted or retained during housing projects in 2014, with 77 per cent of the construction waste being recycled. Many house builders have taken commendable steps to limit their carbon output and are keeping energy standards at the forefront of their plans. Previously developed brownfield land that is deemed suitable for housing is routinely used to minimise environmental impact and promote sustainable developments.

House builders want to build homes in the right places and more should be done to help them to do so, because housing construction is good for not only the people who will occupy the new homes but the community in general. Special attention must be paid to the elderly and disabled among us, as well as to those who live in rural areas. More than 100,000 houses are currently provided for the elderly and people with physical disabilities. Those homes are constructed differently to suit the needs of disabled people and to ensure that they can live in their home for as long as possible.

Official reports have suggested that the number of older households will increase by 50 per cent in the next two decades and that the number of households that are led by a person over 80 will double. That is an issue that will only increase in severity in the coming years, so fixing the problem now is of high importance.

We must continue to fight for the housing rights of all Scotland’s citizens, including those who live in rural areas. Houses in rural areas are significantly less energy efficient than houses in the rest of Scotland, and that is to the detriment of those who live in those homes and the surrounding areas. The number of rural households that are in fuel poverty is more than double the proportion in the rest of the country. As well as being embarrassing for our Government, that is heart-breaking for the families living in those areas who cannot maintain a warm, safe dwelling.

The evidence is before us that it pays to invest in housing. The home-building industry alone supports more than 63,000 jobs. Some estimates say that 4.1 jobs are supported for every single home that is built. Increasing the supply of homes to pre-recession levels alone would create 39,000 new jobs for Scotland. The people of Scotland deserve affordable, warm and accessible homes, and they deserve them now.

Labour calls for more action than the Scottish Government plans to take. We want it to act more swiftly and broadly, and to right the wrongs that we have created to bring Scotland home. I urge Parliament to reject the complacency of the Scottish Government and to support Labour’s amendment.

I move amendment S4M-14859.3, to leave out from first “welcomes” to end and insert:

“believes that each and every Scot deserves a warm and secure place to call home; recognises the work of the independent Commission on Housing and Wellbeing, which concluded that ‘there is very clearly a homes crisis’ in Scotland, with 150,000 households on waiting lists, over 10,000 households in temporary accommodation, an estimated 940,000 households in fuel poverty and nearly half of all housing falling short of official standards; further recognises the particular housing difficulties faced by people living in Scotland’s rural areas; believes that there is a need to increase the availability of accessible housing for disabled people, and believes that Scotland’s ambition must be to deliver a radical programme of housebuilding as called for by Shelter Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, the Chartered Institute of Housing and others to build enough affordable and social rent homes to meet Scotland’s needs.”