After reading Local MSP Adam Ingram’s claims about new investment in South Ayrshire. Ayrshire Housing’s Chair Paul Torrance commented:
“Adam Ingram claims that the SNP Government is investing almost £5.5 million in South Ayrshire for new affordable housing. He has cleverly inflated this rather unimpressive figure by including almost £2.5 millions of delayed payments from last year’s programme. The reality is only £2.9 millions is available to start completely new developments. This translates into a paltry 85 or so new Council and housing association houses over the next three years. The new applications Ayrshire Housing alone will receive over the next three weeks will fill these houses! So the impact on ever increasing waiting lists will be slight as Mr Ingram must know.
The increased grants for energy efficiency measures and rural housing are to be welcomed. These are modest though when set against the substantial cuts in the basic per house grant that the Government has already made. Increasingly mimicking developments in England, the burden of providing new rented housing is being shifted onto our already hard pressed tenants through higher rents and trimming back on services.”