Scotland added 18,028 homes in 2025-26, the fewest since 2014-15
New supply fell 8% in a year, while councils let 14% fewer homes and the number of empty council properties rose, according to the Scottish Government's annual housing statistics.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Scotland's stock of homes grew more slowly last year than at any point since the middle of the last decade, apart from the year disrupted by Covid.
Annual figures published by the Scottish Government on Tuesday show 18,028 new homes were added between April 2025 and March 2026. That was 8% down on 2024-25 and the lowest total since 2014-15. The country had an estimated 2.75 million homes at the end of March 2025, about 60% of them owner-occupied, 23% socially rented and 13% privately rented or lived in rent-free. The remaining 4% were empty or used as second homes.
The new annual total sits alongside the government's quarterly building figures, released in June, which counted 17,268 new-build completions across all sectors in the same year, down 10%. Starts fell to 14,955, the fewest since 2012-13.
Fewer council homes coming free
Councils manage 329,788 homes, just over half of Scotland's social housing. They made 22,843 permanent lettings during 2025-26, a fall of 14% in a year. Just over half of those lets went to homeless households, a quarter to people on waiting lists and 22% to existing tenants moving home.
At the same time the number of empty council homes rose 4% to 10,253. Not all of those are available to let. Just under half were ordinary letting stock between tenants, while 23% were being modernised and 16% were waiting to be demolished.
Waiting lists moved in different directions across the country. They grew in nine council areas, shrank in 14 and stayed broadly level in three. The figures do not include people waiting only for a housing association home.
Evictions well below pre-pandemic levels
Councils issued 16,104 notices to begin eviction proceedings, a similar number to the previous year and a third lower than before the pandemic. Completed evictions and abandonments fell 4% to 646, with 94% linked to rent arrears.
The Scottish Household Survey results published alongside the figures show where housing costs bite hardest. About 12% of private renters said they might have to move because of housing costs, compared with 5% of social renters and 3% of owner-occupiers.
The longer-term measure for ministers is the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. The June figures put delivery at 35,368 so far, 77% of them for social rent. Affordable housing completions fell 8% in 2025-26 to 6,832, although approvals rose 42% and starts 37% on the year, so more schemes are now in the pipeline.
