House builders have welcomed the new £10m fund and said it will unblock many stalled housing projects in the country.

The £10m Housebuilding Infrastructure Loans Fund will offer repayable loans to support roads, sewers, decontamination, flood remediation and demolition.

Cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment Alex Neil, said: “The house building industry has made clear that some major developments in Scotland have stalled in the tough financial climate as the funding to build the necessary infrastructure just has not been available.

“We have listened carefully and this fund is designed to specifically target that problem and kick start a range of developments in urban and rural communities across Scotland.

He added: “Unlocking development in this way will deliver a major boost to the Scottish economy worth far in advance of the £10m investment and supporting many construction industry jobs.

“We are working hard to mitigate the effects of Westminster’s short-sighted and economically damaging capital spending cuts,” he said.

Jonathan Fair, chief executive of industry body Homes for Scotland, said:
“The number of new homes continues to languish at stubbornly low levels.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates that the Scottish Government is prepared to grasp the nettle in terms of the barriers to development and begin to help break them down with actions to unlock housing construction.”

Gavin Pope, Land Director CALA Homes East, said: “The industry is a vital element of the Scottish economy and initiatives such as this will go some way to both supporting Scottish jobs and helping developers to meet the demand for new homes in Scotland.”

David Gunderson, Deputy Managing Director of Walker Group (Scotland), said: “We welcome any initiative to assist the house building industry access important new funds to deliver key elements of infrastructure necessary to deliver much needed new homes, and to hopefully see the initiative extended in future.”