The Scottish government has committed an extra £200m funding for affordable housing, providing the construction sector and housing providers with greater certainty for the next two years.

The news was announced ahead of the Scottish budget in January, with the interim funding available for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2021-22 increased from £300m to £500m.

Scottish ministers say this will help provide funding certainty for local authorities, housing associations and the construction sector as they look to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Affordable Housing Supply Programme helps to deliver homes for social rent, mid-market rent and shared equity.

Scottish communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “Covid-19 has underlined the value of home as a safe place to live. This announcement shows our dedication to continue delivering affordable, warm, secure homes for the people of Scotland and to build on our achievement of delivering nearly 96,000 affordable homes since 2007.

“By significantly increasing the funding able to be committed now, we are building on our record £3.5bn commitment over this Parliament and our plans for further capital investment laid out recently in our draft Infrastructure Investment Plan. This will help the economy and the construction sector to recover from the pandemic while ensuring we maintain momentum in the delivery of social and affordable homes to those who need them.”