STRAIGHT back into the deep end would be an understatement for Mairi McAllan yesterday.
Returning to work after almost a year of maternity leave, the SNP MSP for Clydesdale was immediately summoned to Bute House by the First Minister and appointed Housing Secretary.
“Mairi McAllan has been tasked with tackling the housing emergency,” John Swinney said afterwards.
“Including ensuring we have energy efficient homes to help bring down bills and tackle the climate emergency. These are two of the biggest challenges facing people across the country.”
And as the party is looking to reset after a tough by-election loss in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and with the 2026 Holyrood election on the horizon, the 32-year-old has also been appointed to the unofficial role of lead minister for media interviews.
It’s further confirmation of how highly the SNP thinks of McAllan – who has often been tipped to be a future party leader.
When The National spoke with McAllan on Wednesday afternoon in her office in Holyrood in her first interview since returning to government, she didn’t confirm nor deny whether she harboured such ambitions.
“I have worked closely with leaders of our party and leaders of our government. I have seen up close how grueling and demanding the job is, and it's not something that should ever be taken on lightly,” she said.
“And I do not spend my days thinking about becoming leader of the SNP. However, the SNP means the world to me, [the] pursuit of Scottish independence means the world to me. So, right now, my job is to support the man that I back 100% to be leader, but it's flattering to have those things said nonetheless.”
In any case, tackling the housing emergency will certainly be no mean feat for McAllan – with the potential to make or break any future leadership bid.
When it was declared by the Scottish Government in May last year, homelessness was already at a record high with house building slowing down.
Sat in front of a stack of papers and notes just hours after she was announced as Housing Secretary, McAllan said she is a minister who “really likes to get into the details of things”.
“Particularly before I pontificate about what needs to be done,” she added.
“But it strikes me that there's funding and planning issues to be looked at, and then there's legal issues to be considered as well. And, obviously, there's a Bill that's quite well through just now which I'll be assessing very closely.”
The Housing Bill is currently at Stage 2, with MSPs set to debate amendments in the coming months. It includes plans to cap rent rises at a maximum of 6% for tenants living in rent control areas.
But Scotland’s housing woes and homelessness crisis will need much more than that. Since the emergency was declared, figures have suggested it has only gone further downhill.
Data released earlier this year showed there were a mammoth 17,424 households in Scotland assessed as being either homeless or threatened with homelessness in the six-month period from April 1 to September 30, 2024.
Housebuilding in Scotland has also plummeted, with nearly 4000 fewer homes in supply in 2023-24, compared to the year before.
McAllan said she "will not accept things not improving".
"I think it is a bit like turning a tank around sometimes though, but I want to see quick progress," she added.
McAllan also said the housing brief becoming a Cabinet position for the first showed the “importance” the Scottish Government is placing on the issue.
“It has been an issue that the SNP have prioritised since we came into government and that's backed by statistics,” she claimed.
“We know that, per 10,000 head of population, affordable housing supply is 47% higher in Scotland than it is in England since we came into government, but clearly there is lots to be done.”
The Scottish Government previously pledged to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, but some, including Labour, have said they are not on track to meet that target.
For the last three years between 9500 and 10,400 new affordable homes were completed per year, with the most recent Scottish Budget statement pledging funding that would apparently enable a further 8000.
“I want to discuss with my officials where exactly we are on that,” McAllan said.
“But it's my priority that it continues to happen and we continue to build and deliver new properties.”
She added: “But I'm not going to wait for that slightly longer term piece of work to be done because there are disused properties that can be brought back into use much more quickly and with less money whilst we build and deliver them.
“So, there's no one answer. But I want to understand the full spectrum of options and make sure that each of them is working as fast as they can.
McAllan, when pressed on some of the homelessness figures – specifically surrounding the number of children living in temporary accommodation – admitted that it was “unacceptable”.
Scottish Government data revealed that as of September 30 last year, there are a record 10,360 children living in temporary accommodation.
“It's completely unacceptable. In my view, and I'm sure this is one shared by the First Minister, a home and a roof over someone's head that they can be comfortable in is a fundamental aspect of both a dignified life and a successful life,” she said.
“The First Minister making this a Cabinet post is because he understands how connected it is with his principal goal of eradicating child poverty, but stimulating our economy at the same time and tackling the climate emergency.”
McAllan added: “So, I can't wait actually to get started, to get to know all of the actors in the industry, to understand what's been working to date, because I will defend the Scottish Government's record, but we now need to ramp up our actions rapidly in order to be commensurate with the scale of the challenge.”
Angela Eagle – the UK Government’s immigration minister – had been invited to a meeting in April with representatives from Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Refugee Council.
It comes amid concerns that the amount of refugees declaring as homeless is putting “unprecedented pressure” on the local authority.
But it went ahead without her after the minister’s visit was cancelled last minute, with repeated calls from the SNP-led Glasgow Council for a follow-up meeting then ignored according to the city’s homelessness lead Allan Casey.
Asked about this, McAllan said the UK Government are “far from where they need to be” on the issue.
And asked whether she will be writing to the UK Government to call for a meeting, she responded: “Absolutely”.
“For the whole of Scotland, I want to have a good working relationship with the UK ministers that are responsible. I haven't spoken to them yet because I was only appointed a few hours ago, but that will be something that I'll be looking to do.”
She added: “The UK Government, Scottish Government and local government need to be tied in very closely in order to make this work.”
