An almost £4m cut in West Lothian's house-building budget could see a stop to affordable homes being built beyond the end of this year.
Councillors on the Housing Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel heard of the 26% cut in the affordable homes budget. The confirmed budget for grant funding is now £11.674 million, a reduction of £3.576 million from a previous £15.430 million. "Officers will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to ensure funding is maximised for the West Lothian programme, however there is a real risk the affordable housing projects may slow or stop completely."
"Completions are in line with our programme but approvals and site starts are likely to take quite a significant hit." .The SNP has long criticised the administration's poor showing in house building in comparison to RSL figures and earlier this year called for rent increases to boost funding for house building.
Councillor Tony Boyle, for Labour thanked staff for the report and said: " Under the present climate I think you are doing very well."