With a focus on tackling poverty as one of his main priorities, Mr Yousaf said the government recognised that housing costs are “a key factor” in determining people’s standard of living and will work to achieve its commitment to reduce homelessness and increase the supply of affordable homes.

Over the term of this parliament, the government said it will progress the delivery of affordable homes towards its 2032 target of 110,000 affordable homes, supported by a Remote, Rural and Island Housing Action Plan, which will be published in the Autumn, to make housing available to those who need it most. At least 70% of those homes will be available for social rent and 10% will be in remote, rural and island communities,

Emergency legislation to introduce rent caps for most private tenants and increase protections against eviction will now remain in place until 31 March next year, Mr Yousaf added.

The First Minister said: “During the cost-of-living crisis, this government took prompt action to introduce emergency rent caps for most private tenants, and to introduce additional protections against eviction. We have now laid regulations to ensure those measures will remain in place until 31 March next year.

“We will also introduce a Housing Bill to introduce long-term rent controls and new tenant rights, and to establish new duties for the prevention of homelessness.

“We will continue to work to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation. We will invest £750 million to support the delivery of affordable homes, and meet our target of securing 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

“Ten percent of those homes will be located in rural and island communities because we know those communities are facing housing challenges.

“But we also know those communities are not passive. We see in the likes of the Arran Development Trust, the Mull and Iona Community Trust and Staffin Community Trust real ambition in supporting new housing.

“We have been working with local government, business, the third sector and - crucially - local communities to publish an action plan for housing in rural and island areas later this year.

“We have established a £25m fund to provide homes for key workers in rural areas. Across Scotland, we will invest £60 million this year to acquire empty properties for use as affordable homes.”

He added: “Following consultation, I can confirm we will also enable councils to apply a premium on council tax rates for second homes - a demonstration of our desire to empower local government to tackle the challenges they face.”

To deliver on its top priorities of reducing poverty, delivering growth, tackling climate change and providing high-quality public services, Mr Yousaf has pledged an “unashamedly anti-poverty and pro-growth” package of measures.

Key commitments include:

• expanding access to funded childcare
• paying social care workers in a direct care role and frontline staff providing funded early learning and childcare in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector, at least £12 an hour from April
• speeding up renewable energy projects with a new deal for the onshore wind industry
• delivering a new £15m support package to unleash entrepreneurial talent
• expanding free school meals in primary schools

The First Minister said: “The Scottish Government will always be on the side of the people we serve. Scotland is – certainly should be – a land of opportunity, but I know it doesn’t always feel like that to people bearing the brunt of the UK Government cost-of-living crisis, to families living in the poverty, to struggling businesses, to those who still face consequences of discrimination and inequality. I get that.

“This Programme is an opportunity to be explicit about the driving mission of this government. So let me make it abundantly clear, we are a government who will maximise every lever at our disposal to tackle the scourge of poverty in our country.

“But let me be equally clear, we also need to support economic growth. Not for its own sake but so we can tackle poverty and improve our public services. And we will be unapologetic in taking the action necessary to ensure a sustainable future for our children and planet.”

Sector response

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has described the Programme for Government as a “missed opportunity” to deliver on affordable housing supply pledges.

SFHA chief executive Sally Thomas said: “In the context of a failing housing market, increasing homelessness and rising private sector rents, social housing is more important than ever. It lifts children and families out of poverty, creates thriving communities and helps tackle climate change. But with close to one in twenty people in Scotland on a waiting list for social homes, it’s clear we need to build many more. Today’s Programme for Government is therefore a missed opportunity.

“What was needed was a reinvigorated Affordable Housing Supply Programme which reflects the spiralling costs of building new homes. At the current rate of construction, we simply will not achieve the government’s target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

“Recently, tenants have faced impossible decisions between paying household bills and buying food as costs soared. That’s why we called on the First Minister to extend vital hardship funds until the end of this parliament. Confirmation of £30m for the Fuel Insecurity Fund is welcome: but we need to see this level of funding on an annual basis, to prevent tenants, children and families going cold or hungry each winter.

“On climate, the social housing sector has the most energy efficient homes in Scotland, and our members want to do more. While we look forward to the Heat in Buildings Bill consultation, what we need most is certainty about the targets our members need to achieve in the coming years, and what support will be available.”

Callum Chomczuk, the national director of CIH Scotland, added: “The programme for government confirms what we knew about the Scottish Government’s priorities for the housing sector, with legislation due in a Housing Bill, Heat in Buildings Bill, and a Human Rights Bill during 2023-24. However, what we are waiting on is the detail.

“All of these have already undergone significant consultation with rigorous input from housing professionals, academics, third sector workers and representative bodies – practitioners, tenants and customers urgently need to see the specifics of what will be included in these Bills to allow the sector to respond and prepare for implementing changes.

“The housing sector is still facing many challenges, as reflected in the recent report from the Scottish Housing Regulator on homelessness services, and in the ALACHO and SOLACE report on wider housing pressures. We look forward to upcoming Housing Review Group report and response from the Scottish Government. Time is of the essence if we are to meet the climate, supply and sustainability crisis in Scotland’s housing sector.”

Shelter Scotland said the PfG fails to meet the challenge of ending Scotland’s housing emergency. The housing and homelessness charity said the First Minister’s promise to use every lever available to end poverty “appeared hollow” while funding cuts continue to stall social housing delivery and leave local homelessness services on their knees.

Coming only a week after figures showed a record 45 children on average become homeless in Scotland every day, the charity said the Programme for Government “reaffirmed a commitment to the same approach that has failed people experiencing homelessness”.

Director of Shelter Scotland, Alison Watson, said: “Anyone in Scotland currently experiencing homelessness who listened to the First Minister today would have taken no comfort from his words.

“Last week’s figures showed record levels of homelessness, child homelessness in particular, and today the First Minister announced that his government will be adopting a business-as-usual approach – that is simply not acceptable.

“Once again, he repeated his commitment to fight poverty in Scotland – how hollow that sounds when his government has no new plans to tackle homelessness, when underfunded local services are crumbling, and funding for new social homes has been cut.

“Proposals for rent caps and new homelessness prevention duties will do absolutely nothing for those who already have nowhere to call home unless they go hand-in-hand with new funding and fresh political will.

“Rising to the challenge of fixing our broken and biased housing system requires a willingness to change course, and the First Minister showed none of that today.”

The Existing Homes Alliance welcomed the commitment to consult on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill in 2023 but condemned further delays in introducing this legislation.

The Bill, promised in the Heat in Buildings Strategy two years ago, is meant to include new heating and energy efficiency standards for all buildings.

Alliance director, Elizabeth Leighton said: “Upgrading the energy efficiency of our homes and switching to clean, zero emissions heating is absolutely essential if we are to end fuel poverty and meet our climate change targets. It’s disappointing that the Heat in Buildings Bill is not in the legislative programme for this year. The Scottish Government must now make every effort to introduce this Bill during this session.

“This PfG is meant to be about unleashing potential and boosting economic growth. The Scottish Government has, once again, missed an opportunity, not only to help homeowners and landlords understand what they need to do to upgrade their homes over the next decade, but also to help Scotland’s business community by providing greater certainty, giving them the confidence to invest to meet growing demand.”

On a positive note, Living Rent secretary Aditi Jehangir said the commitment to rent controls is “exactly the type of leadership we need to address the scale of the housing crisis”.

Ms Jehangir added: “For the reforms to the private sector to work, tenants need robust legislation. We need a system of rent controls that protects all tenants, not just sitting ones, brings rents down, and forces up quality. We need better protections against evictions, clear timelines for repairs and the right to make our houses homes. And across all of these reforms, we need enforcement mechanisms that ensure that landlords respect the law.

“These reforms of our broken housing system are long overdue and it is tenants who have paid the price. The Scottish Government must now seize the opportunity, and support the hundreds of thousands of people stuck in poor quality, unaffordable housing, and Living Rent members will be working hard across the country to make sure this legislation delivers for tenants.”

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer added: “There are welcome elements within the Programme for Government from the First Minister, not least of all the pledge to raise the pay of our early years and social care workers in addition to a Housing Bill to introduce long-term rent controls. Reestablishing the Independent Living Fund and introducing a much-needed, if inadequate, premium council tax on second homes is also welcome. However, we cannot pretend this was the radical, redistributive prospectus Scotland desperately needs.

“The First Minister was right on the need to pick a side. We agree. But he has done neither and sets out a misaligned Programme for Government that promotes economic growth through a pro-business, profit-driven prism and gives very little detail, if any, on redistributing wealth from the top of our society to those most in need.”

Scottish Property Federation chair Maria Francké said the expected Housing Bill with provisions for rent control fails to get to the root cause of the issues.

She added: “We are simply not building enough homes across all tenures. Until Scotland can attract the investment to deliver more new homes on a sustained basis, we will fail to keep pace with the demand for rented accommodation.”

NUS Scotland said it was pleased that the PfG benefits students who use public transport to get to class and who rent in the private rental sector, but urged the government to go further in increasing the rights of students in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and by increasing student financial support for all.

The union said: “Students will be waiting with bated breath for the details of each of these policy commitments, particularly making clear that the new Housing Bill – which includes rent controls and increased rights for renters – must also apply to PBSA.

“It is estimated that a quarter of students rent in PBSA. However, currently, PBSA is excluded from the rent cap and many policies intended to protect renters’ rights. NUS Scotland is clear that this is a key contributor to the fact that 12% of students have experienced homelessness; many of them simply cannot afford the rent on student properties and are often excluded from renting in the private rental sector.”

NUS Scotland president, Ellie Gomersall, said: “This Programme for Government includes many positive steps forward for students, but we urgently need to see more detail and radical change to stop students from drowning in the cost-of-living crisis.

“We strongly welcome the introduction of long-term rent controls and increased rights for renters, as this will benefit the thousands of students renting in the private rental sector. However, we anxiously await detail on this bill - particularly whether these rent controls and increased rights will also be applied to the PBSA sector, in which rent increases have dramatically outstripped both inflation and student support for many years now, and in which students have significantly less rights than other renters. With 12% of all students having experienced homelessness, we cannot afford for PBSA to be excluded from rent control regulation.”