When doing research for our regular Advantage Structual Defects Insurance blogs regarding the need for more affordable housing, we’ve become increasingly accustomed to seeing very large figures being thrown around – perhaps the most memorable recent(ish) example of which was the cross-party call to build 3m new homes by 2040.

So we don’t necessarily reach for our notebooks every time we read the latest about ambitious government house building targets or projections of just how many affordable homes we’re likely to require in the coming years.

However, we were interested to discover that Edinburgh Council is set to invest £2.5 billion in affordable housing in the Scottish capital. As reported by the Edinburgh Evening News: Edinburgh City Council is set to pledge £2.5bn to build thousands of affordable homes and make improvements to council houses over the next decade. This has been labelled one of the “most ambitious” social housing projects to be undertaken in the UK.

Edinburgh City Council’s housing, homelessness and fair work committee considered the proposed housing revenue account (HRA) strategy up to 2030 – which will be formally approved when the authority gives its budget the thumbs up next month. The authority’s £2.5bn proposals are thought to be one of the biggest house-building programmes by a local authority in Scotland, if not the UK.

A commitment to build 5,000 new council homes, available as social rent, will see the authority increase its overall housing stock by 25 per cent, with almost 20,000 already in operation.

Housing, homelessness and fair work convener, Cllr Kate Campbell, said: “With an investment of £2.5bn over ten years, this is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious plans for council housing of any local authority in the UK.

Related read: The Edinburgh property market is at its most buoyant since the credit crunch.