Hjaltland housing budget slashed

SHETLAND’S main provider of affordable housing will have to reduce the number of properties they construct next year by two thirds, thanks to drastic savings imposed by the Scottish government.

Hjaltland Housing Association say they are expecting their government grant to be reduced from £3.7 million to around £2 million.

Property services manager Bryan Leask said this would mean that they would only be able to build a maximum of 20 houses in the coming financial year, as opposed to the 60 they had been hoping for.

Mr Leask said Shetland had fared worse than other local authorities which are also facing cuts, as the islands authority was one of the few who lost funding last year.

“The thing that concerns me is that we started from a low base and got an effective cut last year when most other associations got an increase. On top of that they are giving us another 50 per cent cut this coming year,” Mr Leask said.

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He said that the government had to be reminded of Shetland’s housing needs with a constantly rising waiting list. Shetland Islands Council has pledged to spend £20 million over five years on housing from its reserves, but has also lost out on the last two rounds of government funding.

“I think the government has to put its hand in its pocket at some time. Questions need to be asked of the government in terms of not to forget Shetland, we are her and we need that money as well,” Mr Leask said.

The situation has been made worse for associations outside Edinburgh and Glasgow, who are taking a greater share of this year’s overall budget thanks to a three year contract the government.

Hjaltland is able to keep going partly through an interest free bridging facility with the SIC. “That’s been fantastic for us. We wouldn’t have been able to carry on with the development programme we have been doing over the last couple of years if it hadn’t been for that situation,” Mr Leask said.

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That facility will be much needed as the government’s £2 million will be insufficient to pay for construction work which Hjaltland already has on site for the next 12 months.

Mr Leask said: “If we want to start building anything new, and we have proposals for Cullivoe, Eshaness and the Baptist church in Lerwick we will be relying even more on the bridging facility from the council.”

The bridging loans are underwritten by guarantees from the government for future funding.