Housing minister clarifies use of grant subsidies for ‘off the shelf’ purchases

Housing minister Kevin Stewart has confirmed that Scottish Government resources could be used to buy back housing for the public sector but only where it is deemed appropriate to do so.

Providing follow-up evidence on the government’s strategic housing investment plans to the Scottish Parliament’s local government and communities committee, Mr Stewart said grant subsidy can be made available to facilitate so-called ‘off the shelf’ purchases “where it can be demonstrated that the use of grant to acquire housing for rent ‘off the shelf’ is the most appropriate method of meeting the housing needs identified within a particular area – and where this is consistent with the priorities identified in the local authority’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP)”.

The minister said that of the 33,490 homes which were delivered over the last Parliamentary term, 408 ‘off the shelf’ purchases for rent by RSLs and councils were recorded in the official statistics – accounting for 1.2% of the overall affordable housing supply programme. In addition, a further 1,343 properties were noted as having been rehabilitated over the five years to March 2016.

He also noted that a further 1,110 ‘off the shelf’ purchases for rent were acquired through the Mortgage to Rent element of the Home Owners’ Support Fund.

Mr Stewart said: “We are also aware that ex local authority properties have been purchased with the support of Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) grant funding, and also through the Home Owners’ Support Fund. We are unable to provide exact numbers however as we do not record that level of information.

“More generally, we are aware that a small number of local authorities have strategies in place to buy properties without the aid of Scottish Government grant funding. While these units are not counted against our 50,000 target, they can make an important contribution to the delivery of affordable housing locally. We will look to strengthen forthcoming SHIP guidance to make absolutely clear our expectation that such projects funded or supported by sources other than Scottish Government funding are clearly recorded.”

In the letter to the committee, Mr Stewart gave information regarding the delivery of rehabilitated homes across the country.

The committee had requested comment on an apparent ‘disparity’ on the provision of rehabilitated homes delivered through the AHSP and what discussions government might be having with local authorities on the delivery of rehabilitated homes.

Mr Stewart said: “It is for local authorities to identify the strategy for meeting affordable housing need as part of its Local Housing Strategy. For some local authorities, the redevelopment of poorer quality or underused housing stock can prove to be effective in not only meeting housing need but in delivering additional benefits such as regeneration.

“However for other areas or local authorities demolition and replacement may be the preferred approach, due to the quality, cost and/or broader plans for the area. Where local authorities consider that the rehabilitation of existing stock has a role to play locally we would expect them to identify specific projects in the SHIP and to discuss these projects with the relevant Scottish Government area team.”