Cole-Hamilton pitches Lib Dem Policies on 10,000 homes in Inverness
Alex Cole-Hamilton used a visit to Inverness on Monday to promote lib dem policies centred on 10,000 new homes for key workers at mid-market rent. The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said the plan would make it easier for people to take jobs in sectors where employers are struggling to recruit.
“This key worker housing policy is a win-win,” he said. “We’d get Scotland building again and secure a supply of workers in vital industries.”
Inverness housing pitch
Cole-Hamilton said the party would tackle the housing shortage by returning housebuilding to a level that gets 25,000 new homes built annually. He said the extra supply would include housing reserved for workers in areas where a home can stand between someone and a job.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats will tackle the chronic housing shortage by returning housebuilding to a level that gets 25,000 new homes built annually, and create new key worker housing so that finding a home isn’t a barrier to taking up a job when somewhere is crying out for your skills,” he said.
He also said, “Care home bosses tell me their staff can’t find somewhere to live.”
Councils and key worker roles
The policy would leave councils to decide who qualifies as a key worker in their area. Cole-Hamilton said that could mean housing for NHS or care staff in some places, while teachers or farm workers could qualify elsewhere.
“Lib Dems believe in giving power back to communities,” he said. “That’s why we believe it should be up to councils to decide who qualifies as a key worker in their area.”
He said the party wanted that local flexibility because employers and councils face different shortages in different places, including rural areas where staffing gaps are already affecting services.
Tim Eagle on rural Scotland
Tim Eagle, the Scottish Conservative rural affairs spokesman, responded that the SNP have neglected the housing needs of rural Scotland for nearly 20 years. He said that failure to deliver homes has had “deeply damaging consequences for our economy, making it less likely for people to live and work in areas such as northern Scotland.”
The exchange came with the Holyrood election due on Thursday, giving Cole-Hamilton’s Inverness visit a direct campaign purpose. The pitch now rests on whether voters want a council-led housing scheme aimed at named local workforces, or another approach to the housing shortage.
