Long‑term funding certainty must be next government’s first act, SHN podcast told

Campion Homes joint managing director Susan Jackson and SFHA public affairs lead Jen Gracie set out a united call for long‑term certainty across both capital investment and regulatory standards, warning that the current landscape of annual budgets, shifting requirements and unclear cost implications is undermining confidence across the entire delivery chain.

Funding instability now the biggest barrier to delivery.

Susan Jackson, whose company has delivered two and a half thousand homes in the affordable housing sector, said the one‑year Affordable Housing Supply Programme cycles have become “impossible” for developers and housing associations to plan around.

Forward planning is breaking down as partners cannot commit to multi‑year programmes, while supply chains are destabilised, with contractors unable to guarantee labour or materials, she warned.

For Susan, investment decisions are being delayed because developers cannot assess viability over a two‑ to three‑year development window.

She warned that even the Scottish Government’s recent four‑year spending review offers limited reassurance unless the next administration commits to honouring it.

The SFHA has spent the past year publishing a series of detailed policy papers under the banner The Road to 2026, each examining a core challenge facing housing associations — from net zero to adaptations to affordable warmth.

These papers will feed into a single manifesto, Housing Associations, Building Scotland’s Future, launching on 21 January.

Jen Gracie said the approach was designed to give each issue the depth and visibility it requires, while ensuring new MSPs, with significant turnover expected, understand the scale of the sector’s contribution.

Housing associations are central to tackling child poverty, with evidence showing social homes are essential to reducing household costs, Jen highlighted.

They are key to reducing health inequalities, supporting people who would otherwise remain in hospital or unsuitable accommodation. They strengthen local economies, employing 13,000 people and sustaining local contractors.

Jen stressed that the manifesto’s core message is simple: housing associations are “fundamental to Scotland’s success” and must be treated as such by the next government.

Both guests highlighted the growing burden of unclear or incomplete regulation:

• Net zero standards remain undefined, making it impossible to plan retrofit programmes or futureproof new homes.
• The Building Safety Levy lacks cost clarity, with no confirmed per‑unit figure and uncertainty over SME exemptions.
• Local Development Plans are progressing slowly, shrinking the supply of developable land and pushing up prices.
• Infrastructure delays are holding up completed homes, with utilities and transport links often the final bottleneck.

Susan warned that the layering of multiple new requirements, each reasonable in isolation, is creating a cumulative impact that threatens viability across both the affordable and private sectors.

The Scottish Government’s £4.9bn four‑year commitment to affordable housing was acknowledged as a step forward, but the SFHA notes that much of the uplift is back‑loaded, limiting early‑years delivery, while real‑terms funding remains flat once inflation and construction costs are factored in.

Listen to the episode here or watch on our new YouTube channel.