Homes are for people to live in. Today, however, too many young people and families are being priced out of the Borders communities they grew up in. We want to change that.
What’s happening
- Money is unspent on affordable housing. In 2026, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme reported an underspend of more than £5 million. If the money is there to spend on housing, it should be spent so that Borders residents can have stability and security.
- Homeless families are sent to England. At the same time, Scottish Borders Council has placed homeless households in temporary accommodation in Carlisle because it has nothing suitable locally.
- Sites for new homes are being left idle, to raise land values. In Innerleithen, planning permission for flats at the top of Traquair Road has been kept alive for years by digging a single hole. This raises the value of the land so that it can be resold at a profit later on, in a practice known as “land banking.”
- Second and empty homes reduce renting options for Borders residents. As of 2026, Scottish Borders Council charges 225% Council Tax on second homes and 300% on homes empty for a year or more, using powers won by Green MSPs.
Our position
- Build and buy. We need more social and council homes, and we need to let the council buy empty homes to house local families.
- Ring-fence the second-homes council tax income to invest in affordable local housing and end out-of-area placements for homeless households.
- Use compulsory purchase powers on derelict land and long-empty buildings, to revitalise our communities with new housing.
- Protect local housing from holiday lets, with short-term let controls in the areas under the most pressure.
- Fund warmer homes through grants for insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and batteries, as well as community heat networks.