Scottish housebuilders are pressing their government to produce housing statistics more quickly in the wake of the latest stats showing a 35 per cent fall in completion rates for 2020.
They are frustrated it has taken the government nearly a year to produce data for 2020 revealing there were just 14,834 new homes completions for 2020 – 7,839 fewer than in 2019.
Homes for Scotland’s chief executive Nicola Barclay said: “The numbers are, however, depressing – not only in terms of the scale of recovery that will be required to return to pre-Covid levels after all the positive progress of recent years but also in respect of the doubling of the time to publish this data, from six to 12 months.”
The trade body has contacted finance and economy secretary, Kate Forbes, ahead of her budget later this week stressing the importance of timely data for effective policy decision-making.
“It is only by regular, frequent monitoring of starts and completions that we can measure the success or otherwise of housing interventions,” said Ms Barclay.
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