Shortages of materials and construction workers linked to the pandemic and Brexit will continue to have a serious impact on East Ayrshire Council's future housing plans.
While the council announced significant investment of £182.7 million in its housing stock this week, the good news was tempered by the note of caution from housing asset manager Gary Craig.
He told the council's cabinet that the impact was 'on a scale which we could never really have imagined' with a significant backlog just one of the results.
Mr Craig said: "Investment programmes were stopped and some of them have not yet been restarted.
"Maintenance works were put on hold, tenants were asked not to report non-essential works.
"There have been significant operational changes to way we could undertake work which had a significant impact to both cost and efficiency.
"There was a continual loss of key personnel due to shielding and [Covid] symptoms.
"There have been really significant disruption and cost implications in the supply chain of materials and products."
Mr Craig also explained that there was a shortfall in construction workers across the country. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has identified the need for an extra 26,250 in Scotland by the end of 2025.
"This is still ongoing and there are huge challenges around recruitment," he continued. "It is fair to say it has been a difficult experience.
"The [construction] sector is still dealing with the perfect storm.
"The increasing pressures surrounding costs of materials is something we see as ongoing, while increased demand for construction workers will impact on delivery of all investment programmes."
East Ayrshire Council leader Douglas Reid said: "We can see there are challenges but we can see quite clearly that getting Brexit done has had its impact on our communities."
In his report, Mr Craig heaped praise on staff and said: "Our operatives and staff have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months in the most challenging of circumstances to ensure that we kept our tenants safe and secure in their homes and they deserve great credit for that.
"The experience has been exceptionally difficult for many and working at the very frontline for the entire period has clearly had an impact on the health and wellbeing of many members of our team."
He also expanded on the issues with the supply chain, saying: "Developments within supply chain markets pose a significant risk to the financial profiling/budget and time-scales to deliver investment projects and achieve value for money.
"This is one of the most acute material shortages the industry has ever seen which has placed immense demand pressure on available supplies and thus prices.
"Should the current situation deteriorate or remain unchanged and we continue to face similar challenges around materials and resources, there will be significant difficulties and challenge around the delivery of this programme."
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