STATISTICS have shown the council’s programme of construction and procurement of affordable housing has yielded 9,000 homes since 2017/18.
That figure is expected to increase to well over 10,000, according to projected figures for 2025/26.
These statistics, which are due to be reviewed by The City of Edinburgh Council’s housing committee, are part of the new Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), which presents a plan for the council’s response to the housing emergency and delivery of affordable homes.
Over the latest period – 2024/25 – the council led the country in the number of affordable housing projects initiated and was second to only Glasgow in terms of completion of these projects.
In the report, the council outlines two categories: affordable homes approved – homes approved for procurement or construction by the council – and completed – affordable homes delivered and ready to be lived in.
In total, between the middle of 2017 and 2025, the council approved around 9,600 new affordable homes, with just under 9,000 completed and delivered.
Projections for the 2025/26 period are also positive, with more than 1,300 homes set for completion and just over 1,000 set for approval.
In Edinburgh, affordable housing is defined as housing available for sale or rent to people struggling to afford market housing, with priority given to those in need of housing with incomes below the average household income.
In addition to a review of previous data, council officers have set out ambitious plans for increased home procurement and construction for the next five years.
Plans had to be scaled back somewhat from the SHIP outlined last year, however, with 1,000 less approvals than predicted to be brought forward.
This is due to a hit to confidence in the council’s affordable housing plans and a more cautious outlook by the council’s partners in the private and public sector.
To deliver its SHIP objectives, the council relies on a mixture of grant funding, Registered Social Landlords’ own finance, private developers’ finance, institutional investment, developer contributions, and Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) funding.
These issues are exacerbated by the fact that no funding from the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme has so far been confirmed.
The council’s plans for the next five years include over 6,200 homes which would require additional AHSP funding.
To initiate and complete that level of home procurement would require a minimum of £490 million in AHSP grant funding over the next years, which is £265 million more than the council currently receive.
The Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee will take a vote next Tuesday to decide how to proceed with the SHIP going forward.
Council officers have recommended that Edinburgh Council writes to the Scottish Government requesting more funds to deliver the affordable houses the city needs.
Edinburgh Council declared a housing emergency in November 2023, and the cost of rent in Edinburgh has nearly doubled in the past ten years.
In September this year, Shelter Scotland – a charity that campaigns for housing justice in Scotland – said that Scotland requires more than 74,000 affordable homes – working out to more than 15,000 per year – in the next five years, with half of those needed in the East of Scotland.
In the year ending July 2025, the Scottish Government recorded just over 6,800 affordable homes completed.
Shelter Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council have been approached for comment.
