Cabinet Secretary for Housing (Scotland)

Last updated

Scotland
Cabinet Secretary for Housing
Scottish Government Logo.svg
Mairi McAllan - 53727683490 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Màiri McAllan
since 11 June 2025
Scottish Government
Scottish Cabinet
Style
  • Cabinet Secretary
    (within parliament)
  • Housing Secretary
    (informal)
  • Scottish Housing Secretary
    (outwith Scotland)
Member of
Reports to
Seat Edinburgh
Appointer First Minister
(following approval from Scottish Parliament)
Inaugural holder Màiri McAllan
Formation11 June 2025
Salary£126,452 per annum (2024) [1]
(including £72,196 MSP salary)
Website www.gov.scot

The Cabinet Secretary for Housing is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government.

Contents

The current Cabinet Secretary is Màiri McAllan who has served since 11 June 2025. [2]

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]

List of office holders

NamePortraitEntered OfficeLeft OfficePartyFirst Minister
Cabinet Secretary for Housing
Màiri McAllan Mairi McAllan - 53727683490 (cropped).jpg 11 June 2025 Incumbent Scottish National Party John Swinney

References

  1. "MSP salaries". parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 13 May 2024.
  2. "McAllan to tackling housing emergency in Swinney reshuffle". BBC News. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  3. "Scottish government declares national housing emergency". BBC News. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 SPICe (15 May 2025). "Scotland's Housing Emergency – one year on". SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  5. "Changes to the Ministerial team: Letter from First Minister to the Presiding Officer". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  6. "John Swinney creates new role for Mairi McAllan in cabinet resuffle". The Herald. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  7. "Cabinet Secretary for Housing". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 12 June 2025.