Young Cathcart Families Being Priced Out of the Community

Reform UK's Glasgow Cathcart candidate Kim Schmullian has highlighted the growing housing affordability challenge facing young people across the constituency, warning that rising prices are forcing a generation out of the communities they grew up in.

With property values across south Glasgow rising sharply — up 8.9% in the year to March 2025 — and private rents in Greater Glasgow now averaging over £1,273 per month, the dream of owning a home in popular areas like Cathcart, Burnside, or Kings Park is becoming increasingly out of reach for young working households.

Schmullian said: "I am speaking to young couples who both work full-time and still cannot save enough for a deposit to buy a home in the area where they were born and raised. That represents a real failure of housing policy — and it has knock-on effects on our schools, our community, and our local economy."

She is calling for the Scottish Government to reverse its cuts to the affordable housing budget — which fell 25% in 2024–25 — and to incentivise the building of starter homes and mid-market properties tailored to the needs of working families.

"A community that cannot house its young people cannot grow. Reform UK will make affordable housing for first-time buyers a central part of our housing agenda at Holyrood," she said.