Half of Borders social housing fund goes unspent

A housing emergency has been declared in the Borders

About half of the funding allocated to the Borders for new social housing last year went unspent, it has been revealed.

Some £16m came to the area from the Scottish government's Affordable Housing Supply Programme and delivered more than 200 homes.

However, despite declaring a housing emergency, the council and social landlords only used about £8m with the remainder handed back.

Councillors were told delays in the planning and building processes prevented all the money being spent.

Elaine Thornton-Nicol, who sits on Scottish Borders Council's executive committee, admitted it was a "huge concern".

She said there had been issues with the number of contractors available to do the work but it was nonetheless "disappointing".

"That £8m is a lot of houses in the Borders," she said.

She stressed that the local authority was determined to spend all of this year's allocation.

"That £12m has to be spent to the last penny, because this is about people having real, warm homes in the Borders," she said.

Ms Thornton-Nicol said that would enable people to move out of inappropriate accommodation.