New figures have revealed more affordable homes are being built in Scotland than the rest of the UK.

According to data from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), 41% of new housing completions in Scotland were 'affordable' in 2015/16, compared with 16% in England.

In addition, 22% of all new homes in Scotland were social sector completions during the same period.

SNP MSP Ruth Maguire said the figures show the Scottish Government is taking "decisive action" to build more houses.

"Since the SNP has been in power, Scotland's affordable sector has been consistently outstripping building activity in the rest of the UK," she said.

"And with the Scottish Government's budget committing £470 million of direct capital investment this year to begin the delivery of 50,000 affordable homes over the course of this parliament backed by £3 billion of funding, it is clear that the SNP remains steadfast in our efforts to keep growing the housing supply across Scotland."


However, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Scotland said while 'affordable' housing is "undoubtedly critical", more homes in different tenures also need to be built.

Scotland was the only part of the UK to see overall housing completions fall year-on-year in 2015/16 when compared with 2014/15.

Gordon Nelson, Director of FMB Scotland, said this lack of supply is "driving house price inflation and exacerbating affordability problems".

"The Scottish Government has demonstrated a welcome commitment to house building, and it is right to highlight its successes in maintaining a high level of new affordable housing," he said.

"However, this does not overshadow what seems to be a generally stagnating wider market.

"It is vital that the Scottish Government finds a way to stimulate the SME house building sector to increase housing of all tenures. Many of the reforms and changes that smaller developers are calling for would come at little or no extra cost to the taxpayer and could facilitate a resurgence of smaller, locally-based house builders.

"In particular, a renewed focus within the planning system on small scale development, by encouraging local authorities to maximise the use of small sites for delivering new homes, would be an inexpensive way of invigorating the private market and increasing output."

(LM/MH)