Affordability problems are as acute as ever in Scotland, says housing charity Shelter Scotland ahead of a Scottish Parliament debate on housing.

The charity has welcomed the focus given to housing through a Conservative debate (1) taking place tomorrow (May 1, 2008) - but said that UK-wide predictions of house price falls are disguising the fact that Scottish house prices continue to outstrip inflation.

So serious does Shelter Scotland consider the problem to be, that it is hosting a summit 'The Scottish Housing Bubble', on May 22. (2)

The charity says building good quality, affordable rented homes is key to meeting the needs of thousands of people up and down Scotland who cannot, or will never be able to, afford to buy.

Gavin Corbett, Policy Manager, Shelter Scotland, said: 'Affordability remains the key issue in the Scottish housing market, along with making sure people have a choice about where they live. That's why social rented housing remains one of the keys to unlocking Scotland's housing crisis by giving people real choices about their housing.

'The £25m for new council housing promised recently by Nicola Sturgeon is welcome as a start but for the hundreds of thousands who are homeless, or in bad housing, much more will be needed.'

He added: 'With repossessions expected to rise this year and the housing market creaking under the strain, we plan to host a major summit next month to examine both the state of the Scottish housing market and its possible future.'

The summit on May 22 - 'The Scottish Housing Bubble' - will examine the prospects for the Scottish housing market. Professor Steve Wilcox, who compiled the recently published ROOF Affordability Index, is one of the experts speaking at the Shelter event. Also speaking will be Jonathan Fair, chief executive of Homes for Scotland, and Dr Sarah Glynn from Edinburgh University.

The ROOF Index, published in April this year, showed it is 65 per cent harder for first time buyers in Scotland to buy a house than it was ten years ago and that overall house prices for first time buyers have risen almost 180 per cent in ten years.

Notes to Editors

1. Details of the motion for the debate can be found at the Scottish Parliament website. Motion number S3M-1812, David McLetchie, Housing. That the Parliament regrets the failure of the Scottish Government to actively pursue and promote housing stock transfer by local authorities to community-based housing associations and thereby obtain a debt write-off from HM Treasury of over £2 billion; believes that the role of social landlords is best undertaken by housing associations and other not-for-profit, co-operative bodies, and deplores the introduction of any further restrictions on the right to buy.
2. 'The Scottish Housing Bubble' on 22nd May 2008. www.shelter.org.uk/housingbubble
3. Shelter believes everyone should have a home and helps 170,000 people a year fight for their rights, get back on their feet, and find and keep a home. We also tackle the root causes of Britain's housing crisis by campaigning for new laws, policies and solutions.
4. Spokespeople are available for interview, telephone the media office on 0844 515 2442. An ISDN line number is available for broadcast interviews.
5. For more information about Shelter visit www.shelter.org.uk