14 November 2007 23:19

THE HONEYMOON between the Scotland's leading housing groups and the SNP government is well and truly over after a budget they described as a 'severe disappointment' and a 'setback' for the country's ambitious plans to lead the world on homelessness.

In a joint statement, the groups accused the government of attempting to massage the figures and of proposing a 6% real terms cut in the budget for affordable homes to £387.2m next year. Although funding would rise by 12% in real terms after that to £472.1m by 2010/11 they said this was barely enough to keep up with rising land and construction costs.

The overall level of Scottish public spending is still set by the Treasury in London and the Scottish government had warned of 'the tightest UK spending settlement since devolution'. However, the housing groups had lobbied confidently that funding for an extra 30,000 homes over three years should be a key priority as Scotland gears up for its target of giving everyone the right to a home by 2012. Detailed figures are not yet available but they will be surprised if the programme creates more than 20,000 homes.

The negative reaction is in marked contrast to the welcome most English housing groups gave to the spending review south of the border - despite the £8bn settlement being £3.6bn less than they wanted. As in England, the Scottish government is looking for efficiencies to make up some of the gap - but its housing association movement is nowhere near as developed and has nothing like the same level of reserves to squeeze.

The budget comes two weeks after a Scottish housing green paper proposed  scrapping Communities Scotland and the right to buy, reviving council housing and increasing overall construction of new homes from 25,000 to 35,000 a year.

Posted by Jules Birch, Nov 15 

 

Posted in Finance, Scotland, Social housing

22 October 2007 10:53

THE SCOTTISH executive is about to scrap the right to buy on new council and housing association homes, according to strong speculation in the Scottish media over the weekend.

Reports in the Sunday Herald and on the BBC said the idea would be included in the SNP government's housing green paper next month. And, while the official government line is that this is 'speculation' - and it is not exactly unknown for governments to leak potentially controversial proposals to gauge reaction to them - it has already won the backing of opposition Labour leader Wendy Alexander.

The right to buy was introduced by the Conservatives in 1980 and, thanks to Labour opposition, was widely seen as an election winner in England. Although Labour governments have since reduced levels of discount (in England) and allowed local councils to apply to suspend it temporarily (in Scotland), no party has yet attempted such a radical change in policy.

However, the policy has not led to electoral success for the Conservatives in Scotland even though the effects on the housing stock have arguably been even more dramatic north of the border. More than 400,000 homes - 40% of the stock - have been sold and homeownership has almost doubled from 35% to 67%.

The Sunday Herald quoted a 'government insider' as saying that: 'As part of our consultation on housing in Scotland, we will look at a range of measures with the overarching aim of improving the housing system and achieving better value for money. We will consult on the option of ending the right-to-buy for new-build social housing - only affecting tenants moving to newly-built properties.'

The development comes as Scotland waits on publication of the report of the housing supply taskforce and details of the spending review. Housing organisations are calling for £750m of new investment but the executive has already warned that the overall settlement will be tight. 

Posted in Scotland, Right to buy

15 October 2007 14:54

SCOTLAND's brave new world of everyone having the right to a home by 2012 is looking further away this week after signs of a tight spending review and a revelation that up to 15,000 homeless Scots are living in bed and breakfast hotels outside their home area.

The figure is based on statistics gathered by Scotland on Sunday through freedom of information requests to local authorities. Glasgow is most often the 'home' for those the paper dubs 'refugees in their own country'. The paper analyses the reasons councils are forced to use B&B, the people benefitting from it and the effects on areas of Glasgow in a longer feature here.

Last week's spending review included an apparent £3.7bn increase in spending in Scotland by 2011, with annual increases of about 4.5%, but the SNP devolved administration argues that the real annual increase was 1.1% once inflation and a change in the way the government accounts for health spending were taken into account. 

A detailed breakdown of spending in Scotland is expected soon but campaigners say the executive needs to fund at least 30,000 additional social rented homes over the next three years.

Communities minister Stewart Maxwell told a conference organised by Shelter earlier this month that the executive was committed to the 2012 target and that increasing the supply of affordable homes was 'one of the most important things we can do to prevent homelessness'. But he also warned of a 'tight' spending review. The conference was marking the halfway point between the Homelessness (Scotland) Act 2003 and 2012. 

Posted in Homelessness, Scotland

20 September 2007 10:43

ONE TRANSFER under fundamental review, a second delayed for two months and a third with all preparations put on hold. It's been a confusing week for stock transfer in Scotland.

First came publication of a detailed inspection of Glasgow Housing Association, the mega transfer that was meant to lead to second stage transfer (SST) to smaller tenant-led associations but hasn't. The report by Communities Scotland gave it a C or Fair rating and noted some successes but called for a 'fundamental review of its purpose and future direction'. 

Next came news that Aberdeen has been told to put all plans for a new transfer ballot on hold until after the spending review and the affordable housing review. According to local press reports, Communties Scotland told it: 'It may be wise for you to avoid the expense and effort of further detailed preparation.' But the council was 'very disappointed and dissatisfied' and fears losing momentum for the scheme. 

Finally, the Inverclyde transfer due on October 1 has been put back by two months to December 3, apparently because of a funding wrangle. Tenants voted yes last November. Local reports quoted a letter from the council's chief executive to councillors saying: 'The problem has been a failure to agree the terms of the transfer agreement itself — a complex and detailed legal document, and one of the very last pieces in the jigsaw. Negotiations will require more time to overcome some far-reaching and fundamental issues. The revised date of 3 December is now the most realistic target.'

However, it is the state of the Glasgow transfer that is inevitably making the political waves in Scotland. The situation has been given added spice by the election of Wendy Alexander, the original architect of the plan, as Labour leader. But the SNP, which opposed the original plan, is now the government that has to decide whether to find extra money to make SST work. 

Communities and sport minister Stewart Maxwell said: 'It is immediately clear that the previous administration failed to put in place a coherent long-term plan when the GHA was created. What's important now is that the interests of current and future tenants are safeguarded. The clock is ticking - GHA now has eight weeks to produce a comprehensive improvement plan that addresses the concerns highlighted in the report.'

Glasgow Housing Association said it welcomed the inspectors' recommendation that 'we must take responsibility for leading that change and...their recommendation that others must allow us to do this'. 

So what happens next? The Scotsman concludes that SST 'faces the axe' while the Herald looks forward to much of the confusion being cleared up next week with a major policy announcement on public housing. The big question is how the SNP will reconcile its opposition to transfer with the need to maximise resources for housing as a whole. 

Posted in Scotland, Stock transfer