CUTS PUT 2000 HOMES ON HOLD

Construction body warns brutal budget has been devastating’

- PAUL HUTCHEON

THE construction of nearly 2000 affordable homes has stalled because of SNP budget cuts, according to a housebuilding group.

Homes For Scotland's Jane Wood said the huge drop in funding had been "devastating" for the sector.

Humza Yousaf's short-lived administration announced a near £200million cut to affordable housing last year, in spite of homelessness rising, councils declaring a housing emergency and young people struggling to buy homes.

HFS said data collected from their members revealed that about 5000 "new, high-quality, energy-efficient homes" had stalled as a result of the cuts.

They said 1826 are designated as affordable housing.

Wood said "thousands of vitally needed new homes" across the country are facing years of delay or are "completely mothballed at a time of national emergency".