Cabinet Secretary for Housing (Scotland)
| Scotland Cabinet Secretary for Housing | |
|---|---|
since 11 June 2025 | |
| Scottish Government Scottish Cabinet | |
| Style |
|
| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Seat | Edinburgh |
| Appointer | First Minister (following approval from Scottish Parliament) |
| Inaugural holder | Màiri McAllan |
| Formation | 11 June 2025 |
| Salary | £126,452 per annum (2024)[1] (including £72,196 MSP salary) |
| Website | www |
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government.
The current Cabinet Secretary is Màiri McAllan who has served since 11 June 2025.[2]
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
| Politics of Scotland |
|---|
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History
On 15 May 2024, the Scottish Government declared a "housing emergency".[3] This pre-empted a vote in parliament, which the government would likely have lost, on a Scottish Labour motion calling on them to adopt this position. This motion passed later that day.[4] Several councils had already declared a housing emergency, including Edinburgh City Council and Glasgow City Council (both in November 2023).[4]
One year later, on 11 June 2025, the position of Cabinet Secretary for Housing was created. This replaced the previous junior ministerial role of Minister for Housing. Upon creating the role First Minister John Swinney said that the new position at cabinet level would "ensure government action is focused on tackling the housing emergency and providing energy efficient homes for the future."[5] The inaugural holder of the position is Màiri McAllan who was appointed to the role following her return from maternity leave.[6] The Housing brief had previously fallen under the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (and appeared in its title between 2021 and 2023 when Shona Robison served as Social Justice Secretary).
Overview
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Housing include:[7]
- Affordable Housing Supply Programme
- Housing to 2040 strategy
- homelessness and rough sleeping
- cladding remediation
- regulation of existing housing systems
- tenants rights
- building standards
- welfare and debt advice services
- heat networks
- Heat in Buildings programme
- heating and domestic energy transformation
- domestic energy efficiency
- fuel poverty
List of office holders
| Name | Portrait | Entered Office | Left Office | Party | First Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinet Secretary for Housing | ||||||
| Màiri McAllan | 11 June 2025 | Incumbent | Scottish National Party | John Swinney | ||
References
- ^ "MSP salaries". parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 13 May 2024.
- ^ "McAllan to tackling housing emergency in Swinney reshuffle". BBC News. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ "Scottish government declares national housing emergency". BBC News. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ a b SPICe (15 May 2025). "Scotland's Housing Emergency – one year on". SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ "Changes to the Ministerial team: Letter from First Minister to the Presiding Officer". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ "John Swinney creates new role for Mairi McAllan in cabinet resuffle". The Herald. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ "Cabinet Secretary for Housing". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
External links
- Cabinet Secretary for Housing on Scottish Government website