A report from Scottish Labour’s Housing Commission recommended the party scrap the scheme. Labour said the heavily criticised scheme has been handing state support to households on over £100,000 per year to buy a property. The mean household income of those participating in the scheme in 2016/17 was £41,000, while the average household income in Scotland is around £25,000.
A ‘First Buy Scotland Scheme’ is suggested where the funding should be switched into, which will see the government provide up to 35% of the cost in the form of a share-equity agreement repayable to government at the sale of the property.
Labour will consider the policy alongside existing pledges to build 12,000 homes for social rent a year, and cap private rents through a Mary Barbour law, as part of Labour’s plan to end the housing crisis.
Housing Beyond 2021 (Scotland): Discussion Paper
We gave the Scottish Government our opinions on their proposals to address housing issues such as an ageing population, climate change, affordability and more beyond 2021.