Dumfries and Galloway has been forgotten in SNP Scottish Government plans for new social housing, according to local MP Russell Brown.

The Scottish Government recently announced plans to provide councils in Scotland with £26 million to build more than 1,300 new homes.

But local authority areas where the social housing stock is managed solely by housing associations- which includes Dumfries and Galloway- have been given none of the new investment.

According to Russell Brown, added to SNP cuts to the Housing Association Grant, this is further proof that the SNP is failing to tackle the housing crisis in our region.

He said, “By only giving this cash to councils with a social housing stock the SNP government have once again failed to acknowledge the chronic shortage of housing in our region, let alone attempt to tackle it.

“Coupled with the SNP’s cuts to the grant for housing associations it means far fewer new houses are being built in our region than are desperately needed. That’s a huge blow for the huge numbers of people locally who are struggling to find housing suitable to their needs. And at a time when, as everywhere, our region is trying to recover from the impact of the recession, it could cost local jobs.

“The Scottish Government’s indifferent attitude to investment in new housing in our area further underlines that Dumfries and Galloway is the forgotten region under the SNP.”