Fife Council 'intervene' to ensure Aberdour homes are built

That was the claim from Labour councillor Patrick Browne who said the decision at Holyrood to slash the affordable housing budget for local authorities by 26 per cent had nearly scuppered building plans at the east of the village.

However, at the South and West Fife area committee, SNP councillors hit back and said blame for a lack of funding should be placed at the door of Westminster.

During a discussion on the area housing plan, Cllr Browne said: "There was a development in Aberdour which Kingdom Housing Association had to pull out of because of the fact they couldn't guarantee funding for the project because of that cut in the Scottish Government affordable housing budget.

"Fortunately in this case the council was able to step in and that development will take place.

"There will be 21 new council homes built in Aberdour because the council was able to intervene and get involved and that was a consequence of the cut in the affordable housing budget."

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay Labour councillor Patrick Browne, left, and Rosyth SNP councillor Brian Goodall. (Image: Fife Council) READ MORE: Development of 19 new homes in West Fife village was 'blocked by the MoD'

Cala Homes got the go-ahead for 84 homes in their Inchcolm Green development, off Main Street, in 2019 after an appeal to the Scottish Government - the council had previously refused them.

The plans included 21 affordable homes and Cllr Browne said the council's intervention meant they would now be built.

Committee convener, SNP councillor David Barratt said: "It's extremely good news and it was always my preference that it be council houses anyway.

"Having spoken to Kingdom, their explanation was it was in part due to the government housing cuts but not solely related to that.

"There were a number of other factors included in that decision.

"In terms of the council taking it over, a significant portion of the funding has come from second homes council tax which the council is implementing.

"Ultimately I will quote a politician in that all roads lead to Westminster as all Scottish Government budgets come from Westminster."

READ MORE: Fife Council aim to build 1,000 affordable homes by 2027

Fellow SNP councillor Brian Goodall had earlier opposed the area housing plans for 2024-25 after pointing out that very little had been done to replace the council homes in the committee area that had been lost in the Right to Buy process.

And he said: "Cllr Browne never misses a chance to blame the Scottish Government but the simple reality is those 3,236 council homes that were sold off under the Right to Buy were not sold by the Scottish Government.

"They were sold by administrations that supported the Right to Buy.

"The first thing the Scottish Government did when it got into power in 2007 was to begin the process to end the Right to Buy and stop this disaster."

He went on: "Generations of Labour administrations in Fife didn't build a single council house in over 20 years, until I became chair of the housing and communities committee.

"There's a lot of blame to be spread around and very little of it goes to the Scottish Government.

"They're the ones trying to take actions to address the difficulties.

"There is something we can do in Fife within existing budgets to deliver more affordable homes and that's to increase the number of buy-backs."