Despite Help to Buy Scotland funding running out alarmingly quickly for this financial year, house building in the northern section of the UK is on the up.

2014 saw a 16 per cent increase in private-sector home building, with the Scottish Government delivering well on their promise to deliver 30,000 affordable homes by March 2016. A total of 15,541 homes have been reported to have been built, putting the Scottish government on the way to reaching that target.

The rate of house building appears to be increasing too, with 2014 seeing an increase of four per cent in the number of new build homes being constructed compared to 2013.

Help to Buy in Scotland is thought to be largely responsible for the success in building these homes, and so these new figured have heightened the criticism of the fact the scheme has now closed to new applicants.

This is a shame for first time buyers who have not been able to make it onto the property ladder, but great news for those that the scheme had enough funding to help.

The funding ran out just after the start of the new financial year, due to the money being allocated to applicants in advance.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess commented: “Housing is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s ambitions to create a fairer and more prosperous country and the supply of affordable housing is a key priority. I’m delighted to say we are well on track to meeting our five-year target of 30,000 new homes by 2016.”