Edinburgh unveils ambitious affordable housing scheme

24-Feb-2006

Edinburgh Council has announced that it is reviewing its affordable housing schemes and in a bid to get more aspiring homeowners onto the property ladder is to set aside more space for affordable housing developments.

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It is currently preparing to put out new planning rules for consultation which, if agreed upon and implemented, would see a quarter of all new development space in the city set aside for affordable housing schemes, so as to increase the number of aspiring first time buyers in the area getting a foot onto the first rung of the property ladder.

Following recent figures from Halifax which show that the city's private housing stock is the seventh most expensive in the UK, the council is looking to develop a housing strategy to improve opportunities for first time buyers.

"This enables us to get a share for affordable housing of the land that will be available," Sheila Gilmore, executive member for housing and community safety at Edinburgh Council, explained to Inside Housing.

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Douglas Reid, spokesperson for housing at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, added that the innovative idea is being looked at by other councils where high property prices are inhibiting first time buyer activity and more such schemes could crop up across the UK in the future.

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