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Swinney pledges £10,000 deposit to support first-time buyers

News imageGetty Images Three newly-built detached houses with red brick on the ground floor, a garage and painted white at the top floorGetty Images
The first minister said the SNP would create a £100m First Homes Fund

John Swinney has pledged up to £10,000 support for a deposit for first time buyers, to break young people out of the "rent trap" in Scotland.

The first minister said he would create a £100m First Homes Fund if the SNP are re-elected at the Holyrood election in May.

Speaking ahead of his party's conference this weekend, he said the fund would continue a pilot programme that funded deposits for more than 10,000 homes from 2019 to 2022.

Opposition parties have previously accused the SNP of not acting with sufficient urgency to tackle a shortage of affordable housing, and undermining the private rental market with too much regulation.

Ministers declared a national housing emergency in 2024 after a severe shortage in social homes, an increase in homelessness and rising property costs.

Under the previous pilot scheme, the government took a share in the property, in effect providing a loan which would be repaid when the property was sold.

Swinney said the Scottish government would step up for those who "cannot rely on the bank of mum and dad to support them".

He said: "Too many young people are stuck paying more in rent than they would on a mortgage.

"With electricity, food prices and just about every other bill going up and up, there just is not enough left at the end of the month to save up a deposit.

"It is a trap, leaving them locked out of home ownership, often well into their thirties."

Swinney blamed the "the Westminster cost-of-living crisis" for "hammering people day to day".

News imagePA Media John Swinney, who is bald with glasses, looks to his right in a close-up shot. He is wearing a dark suit and white shirt with a purple tie. He is standing outside, with windows out of focus behind him. PA Media
John Swinney said many young people were stuck paying more in rent than they would on a mortgage

The deposit scheme comes after Swinney announced plans in January to create a national housing agency to boost home building.

The first minister said the agency, called More Homes Scotland, would deliver new homes more quickly and more affordably.

It will focus on large-scale affordable housing proposals, rural and island housing, the acquisition of land, and infrastructure work needed for sites that have stalled.

He said it would start operating in 2027 if the SNP returns to government in May.

Swinney told BBC News: "We've got to make sure that we tackle all aspects of the market.

"Our housing bill makes it possible to attract private investment into housing in Scotland, our programme allows us to invest in affordable housing.

"And if the SNP government is re-elected we'll be able to support renters who want to aspire to own their own home, with a stake of up to £10,000 from the government."

However, opponents have criticised the Scottish government's record on housing.

The Scottish Conservatives said Scotland was the grip of a housing emergency because of the SNP's "appalling failure to deliver the homes we have needed over the last two decades".

Scottish Labour has also criticised the Scottish government for a lack of ambition, saying it is "nowhere near" its target of building 110,000 affordable home by 2032.