Humza Yousaf’s rented flat cost Scottish taxpayers £6k a month

An Edinburgh flat rented for Humza Yousaf cost taxpayers £6,000 a month while the First Minister’s official residence was being renovated.

The Scottish Tories criticised the cost of the three-bed flat, which the SNP leader used while Bute House was undergoing an £825,000 refurbishment.

The central Edinburgh property was acquired for Mr Yousaf at a cost of almost £30,000 over five months, with the Scottish capital in the grip of a housing crisis.

An accommodation shortage means close to 5,000 households, including many children, have been forced into temporary housing, Edinburgh Council has warned.

Controversial SNP rent controls have also fuelled the shortage, critics say, as it has led to private landlords taking properties off the market.

The council declared a housing emergency in November 2023, saying supply was at “breaking point” and that it was struggling to prevent a homelessness epidemic.

“Humza Yousaf was lucky to find somewhere to rent, given the housing emergency declared by Edinburgh City Council – which the SNP’s disastrous rent cap has helped cause,” Miles Briggs, the Scottish Tory MSP, said.

“But at £6k per month, it certainly didn’t come cheap to the taxpayer.

‘Stick in the craw’

“At a time when his government is slashing budgets – including on housing – and hiking taxes to fill the black hole the SNP’s financial mismanagement has created, this will stick in the craw of hard-pressed Scots.”

The flat was rented for Mr Yousaf, a Glasgow MSP whose home is in Broughty Ferry near Dundee, between June 2 and Oct 31.

The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh was not sitting for much of the time My Yousaf had the flat, with recesses between July 1 and Sept 3, and Oct 7-22.

Bute House, a category A-listed Georgian townhouse in the capital’s Charlotte Square, was closed in April 2023 for work to be carried out both inside and outside.

As well as a residence for the First Minister, it is used to host official receptions and events.

The flat cost almost £20,000 in rent, in addition to £5,400 for the “property search and advice”. Legal fees and council tax cost almost £4,000, and there was a £420 charge to end the tenancy.

For Bute House, fire prevention works cost £201,000, while repairs to the roof, stonework and windows cost nearly £600,000. Conservation and collections activity, including work on a chandelier, cost more than £30,000.

The Scottish Government said: “Alternative accommodation arrangements were put in place for the First Minister. A number of properties were reviewed and the one selected was the best fit in terms of cost, security and size.

“The alternative accommodation comprised a three-bedroom flat in central Edinburgh with sufficient living space for the First Minister and their family.”