UP TO 35,000 first-time buyers were told yesterday that the SNP's promise to give each of them a £2,000 grant to help buy a house had been ditched.
The SNP went into last year's election with a clear pledge to provide the grant to help people get on to the property ladder.
But Nicola Sturgeon, the health and wellbeing secretary, performed an embarrassing policy U-turn when she told MSPs this
manifesto pledge has been dropped. Her opponents derided the Scottish Government for breaking "yet another" manifesto commitment, claiming that ministers had already reneged on plans to cut primary school class sizes, provide nursery teachers for every child and write off student debt.
Other key policies, such as introducing a local income tax and creating a Scottish Futures Trust to build schools and hospitals, are in danger because they do not command enough parliamentary support.
Other pledges, such as the SNP's commitment to recruit an extra 1,000 police officers, were implemented only under pressure from other parties, while the likes of the abolition of prescription charges for those with long-term conditions have been changed since they were first announced.
Ms Sturgeon admitted the £2,000 first-time buyers' grant had been dropped when she unveiled the Scottish Government's approach to housing.
She claimed the "current market climate" had been behind her decision to concentrate on other measures.
But, in reality, ministers changed their minds because the first-time grants' policy would have cost £70 million a year to implement and it had been roundly rejected by housing experts when it was put out to consultation.
The Council for Mortgage Lenders and others said a £2,000 grant would be too small to make any real difference to the housing market. It was also pointed out that it would be inflationary and would not target those most in need.
However, that did not stop the SNP's political opponents from drawing attention to this dropped pledge and linking it to other manifesto commitments that have either been ditched or have little chance of success.
Johann Lamont, the Labour Party's communities spokeswoman, said: "The £2,000 grant for first-time buyers is now officially dead.
"Yet again, the SNP have failed to deliver on a manifesto pledge that was either a cynical attempt to win votes or undeliverable.
"The First Minister's repeated reassurances that he would work his way through all the SNP manifesto pledges over four years have again been shown to be hollow."
David McLetchie, the Scottish Tories' chief whip, said: "The day the SNP announced this policy, it was immediately condemned as unworkable, counterproductive and inflationary.
"It is a shame it has taken them this long to bow to the inevitable, and, if they want, we can show them another list of SNP pledges which should similarly be dropped."
Ms Sturgeon insisted the Scottish Government felt it would be better to expand a £250 million scheme for shared equity over the three years – allowing homebuyers to take up part-rent-part-mortgage initiatives with housing associations.
She also said more money had been put into another scheme to help people struggling with their mortgages and facing repossession of their homes.
The minister said: "It is our judgment that, in the current market climate, this approach offers more effective help to first-time buyers than direct grants."
A source close to Ms Sturgeon conceded afterwards that the £2,000 grants scheme was now "in abeyance" and would not be resurrected this side of the next Scottish elections in 2011.
The SNP has been under attack for its "broken promises" for the past year.
Labour claims the Nationalists' litany of broken promises, underfunding and spending cuts amounts to a grand total of £2.7 billion.
Wendy Alexander, the Scottish Labour leader, said: "This has been a year of ditched promises, 12 months of underfunded pledges, and real cuts now beginning to existing programmes.
"The evidence shows the SNP have let down Scotland by over-promising, underfunding and under-delivering."
Labour claimed the SNP had ditched promises worth a total of £656 million from its election manifesto, and it accused the Scottish Government of underfunding other initiatives it had promised – such as drug rehabilitation and the free school meals project – by £953 million.
Labour also argued that the Nationalists had cut existing spending budgets by £1.1 billion over three years.
Ms Alexander said that amounted to £2.7 billion of "ditched spending promises and real-term cuts".
In response, the SNP government published a list of what it said had been achieved in government.
It was a list of "solid achievement", according to the First Minister's spokesman, who said there were more than 100 achievements that the SNP government had delivered, from a slimmed-down government to the launch of a consultation on the climate change bill.
Every decision by a government department has to fit into one or more of the Scottish Government's priorities – a healthier, wealthier, safer, greener, fairer and smarter Scotland.
The spokesman claimed there had been promises delivered in every category, which were making Scotland better and which had been secured by the SNP government.
The £2,000 grant scheme for first-time buyers not only appeared in the SNP manifesto, but the Scottish Government consulted on the policy as well, inviting responses from experts and interested parties.
It was only when this consultation process provoked a hugely negative reaction that it really looked as if ministers would try to drop it quietly.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders, which represents most high-street banks and building societies, said the £2,000 grants would be a waste of taxpayers' money.
It also warned that house prices would artificially rise by the same amount if they were introduced.
Other experts warned that the amount was too small to make any real difference to first-time buyers and would simply provide extra inflationary pressures in the housing market.
In total, more than 74 per cent of respondents to the consultation process rejected the scheme as unworkable.
Sturgeon widens scope of shared-equity schemesMINISTERS announced a major shift in housing policy yesterday, away from straight grants for first-time buyers and into more gradual ways of getting them on to the housing ladder.
Nicola Sturgeon, the health and wellbeing secretary, told MSPs that her focus had shifted to those in most need during the credit crunch.
She said the Scottish Government felt that it would be better to expand £250 million shared-equity schemes over the three years – allowing homebuyers to take up part-loan-part-mortgage initiatives, rather than just giving money to first-time buyers.
The minister said: "It is our judgment that, in the current market climate, this approach offers more effective help to first-time buyers."
The Scottish Government's shared-equity schemes enable people to buy a home in partnership with a registered social landlord. An owner generally pays between 60 and 80 per cent of the price of a home – with the remainder held by a registered landlord using a government grant.
Ms Sturgeon said she would expand the scheme up to £250 million over three years, from the government's £1.5 billion affordable housing budget.
She said the Scottish Government would launch a £25 million Homeowners' Support Fund to provide grants to those facing repossession. But it emerged later that this £25 million investment only amounted to £4.5 million a year of new money for two years.
There is already a mortgage-to-rent scheme available to assist those facing repossession. Their houses are taken over by a social landlord and they pay rent, rather than a mortgage.
Ms Sturgeon's Homeowners' Support Fund is simply an extension of this existing scheme, with a few changes.
The last executive invested £8 million a year in the previous scheme and the current Scottish Government will increase this to £12.5 million a year – or £25 million over two years – an increase of 50 per cent.
The minister further promised additional support and training for financial advisers, so that those facing difficulties with money could get good pointers.
Jonathan Fair, the chief executive of Homes for Scotland, welcomed the shift in emphasis. He said: "It is clear that Ms Sturgeon has recognised that providing support to first-time buyers is now absolutely key to the health of the sector. Therefore we welcome her commitment to investing £250 million over the next three years through the expansion of the government's shared-equity scheme.
"We are also encouraged by her commitment to increasing the level of the Homeowners' Support Fund, through an investment of over £25 million within the government's 'mortgage-to-rent' scheme."
PROMISES KEPTEND THE GRADUATE ENDOWMENT: The SNP made this pledge as part of its package of measures for students and delivered last year, with the help of the Liberal Democrats.
KEEP OPEN A&E UNITS: This was a party commitment relating to Ayr and Monklands hospitals during the election campaign. It was one of the first pledges delivered by Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary.
A BILL FOR AN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM: This was the top-priority pledge for many Nationalists and it was delivered last August when Alex Salmond published the bill and launched his "national conversation" on independence.
CUT FERRY FARES TO THE WESTERN ISLES: The SNP promised help for islanders and is in the process of delivering road-equivalent tariffs which will cut ferry fares for many islands.
BUSINESS RATES RELIEF: The SNP promised to reduce rates for 120,000 small businesses and did so, although the speed of the scheme was accelerated after pressure from the Scottish Tories.
PROMISES BROKENFIRST-TIME BUYERS' GRANTS: The SNP promised £2,000 grants for first-time buyers. This was officially dropped yesterday.
CLASS SIZES: The SNP promised maximum class sizes of 18 in P1, P2 and P3 across the board. This was changed to a maximum of 18 in P1 and P2, and there was no timescale set.
NURSERY TEACHERS: The SNP promised to provide access to a fully-qualified nursery teacher for every nursery-age child. There has been no sign of this yet, principally because the Scottish Government is not in charge of hiring nursery teachers.
WRITE OFF STUDENT DEBT: The SNP promised to make loan payments on behalf of graduates as part of a package of support for students. This has been dropped without any sign of it reappearing.
PROMISE TO BE BROKEN?SCOTTISH FUTURES TRUST: This flagship policy was supposed to replace the public-private partnership model of building schools and hospitals, but has also run into fierce criticism and its future is now in doubt.
SCRAP COUNCIL TAX: This plan, to bring in a local income tax, is out to consultation but has been criticised by a large number of organisations and does not have enough parliamentary support to get passed in its current form.
PROMISES WATERED DOWNPOLICE OFFICERS: The SNP promised 1,000 extra officers. Ministers dropped this to 500 after taking power and only increased it again to 1,000 under pressure from the Tories.
ENDING PRESCRIPTION CHARGES: The SNP said it would end charges completely for those with long-term conditions and phase them out for the rest of the population. What it is doing is reducing the charge year-on-year to an eventual abolition for everyone, including those with long-term conditions.
The full article contains 1911 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
