A prominent lettings agent says politicians wanting an open door policy for refugees from Ukraine do not explain how they will be housed. 

David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander, says Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants no limit on the number of Ukrainians accepted into this country.

He says this is laudable but in Scotland the total number of new social housing completions for the 12 months to end March 2021 was just 3,785.

That was a decrease of 33 per cent on the 5,672 social sector homes completed in the previous year. 

Alexander says: “There is an understandable feeling among all of us of wanting to do something and as part of that all countries are accepting refugees to their towns and cities.

“The problem is that Scotland is woefully short of available accommodation … the practical reality is that there is very little spare capacity in any sector.”

And he adds that the latest available figures for Scotland’s waiting list – dating from 2019 – is 132,029 strong.

Alexander continues: “My own firm, for example, has just 64 properties available at the moment when we would normally have hundreds of homes to let at this time of year. In addition, we are expecting an enormous influx of EU citizens returning to work in Scotland this summer and we will struggle to house them if there is not a substantial upturn in properties available.”

And he concludes: “The problem, as it has been for some time, is that there are too few properties to rent on the market, and insufficient being built to meet the growing needs of the Scottish population. 

“I believe that it is only by having a frank and open discussion among all interested parties that we will resolve this issue in the long term. 

“The Scottish Government needs to ensure it engages fully with housebuilders and property developers, the private rented sector, and social housing in developing an appropriate strategy to ensure we have sufficient homes for Scots in the future. In this way we will create a property market which benefits everyone. In the short term I can only hope that as many Ukrainian refugees are found homes as quickly as possible.”