100,000 new Scottish homes should be built over the course of the next parliament, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has said.

Ms Davidson made the call during a keynote speech in Aberdeen yesterday, 16 February.

Figures for the north east suggest 55,000 new homes will need to be built by 2030 to cope with demand.

The Scottish Conservatives said that the current SNP Government should bring together public and private sectors to get house building back to pre-recession levels.

The party claims a 10% year on year increase would increase house building from over 16,000 to more than 26,00 in 2021, adding 109,000 properties by the end of that year.


In her speech, Ms Davidson said getting on the housing ladder "shouldn't be the preserve of the rich, or only for those who can tap the Bank of Mum and Dad".

"Owning your own home should be within the reach of everyone who works hard and does the right thing," she said.

"The UK Government has shown real ambition in setting a target of one million new homes by 2020. We now need to hear a similar sense of ambition from the SNP.

"And the Scottish Conservatives are going to demand they show it.

"So our manifesto will have include a very clear call – to get Scotland building houses again.

"We will demand that the Scottish Government sets a clear goal – to ensure levels of house-building in Scotland get back to the rates we saw before the financial crash.

"That means a target of 25,000 new homes built ever year –over 100,000 new homes over the course of the parliament.

"This is something both the public and private sector should work to achieve – building homes of all types of tenure.

"For the sake of the next generation, too many of whom have given up hope of every getting a home of their own, it must be done."

(LM/MH)