Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 14 March 2024.
Paul McLennan
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has led the United Kingdom on housing by delivering more than 126,000 affordable homes since 2007, more than 89,000 of which were for social rent
, including almost 24,000 council homes. We will also invest £556 million in affordable housing in 2024-25, the Majority of which will be for social rent.
We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. To support that, we will bring forward a review that was scheduled for 2026-27 to 2024, which will concentrate on deliverability. We are also working with the financial community in Scotland and elsewhere to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes.
There is also a role for local authorities in preparing their local housing strategies. I am discussing that with them to identify, first, what the waiting lists are and, secondly, the actions that they are undertaking in that regard.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
