Chamber and committees

Forth Ports has not yet selected the construction company for the construction of the facility and is going through a tender process at present. Once operational it is envisaged that the facility will be used by local businesses helping to assist the growing logistics industry in the Grangemouth and Falkirk areas.

They also hope to see extended links to local schools and colleges once the facility is operational and already have 25 Modern Apprentices in training based in Grangemouth. Skills Development Scotland have been engaged with the company for a number of years, most recently discussing further work based learning opportunities.

This private development has only recently been announced and we have no indication of the scale of the development or of any additional childcare need that may arise.

1 December 2017. From that date, local authorities can apply to Scottish Ministers to have an area designated as a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) where an authority can demonstrate that private rents in that area are rising too much, causing undue hardship to tenants and having a detrimental impact on the authority’s broader housing services. If Minister’s designate an RPZ, rents increases for current tenants with a private residential tenancy will be capped. The cap will be least the Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 1% and can last for up to 5 years.

Information on the current characteristics and composition of households in properties provided thorough particular affordable housing supply programmes is not held centrally. However information on the current age profile of all social rented households in Scotland is available and is published in section 3.2 of the statistical publication ‘Social Tenants in Scotland 2015’, available at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/02/8350. This is based on an analysis of Scottish Household Survey data and shows that in the year 2015 an estimated 33 per cent of all social rented households were aged 60 or over, based on the age of the highest-income householder within the property.

The Scottish Household Survey is a face-to-face survey of a sample of people in private residences in Scotland, and so does not cover communal residences such as care homes. In addition the survey does not collect information on categories of affordable housing.

The following table provides estimates at a local authority area level of the proportion of social rented households with a highest income householder aged 60 years or over. Scottish Household Survey data has been combined across the three years 2013 to 2015 to provide more robust estimates at a local authority level.

Social rented households by local authority area, 2013 to 2015 - estimated percentages of households aged 60 years or over, based on the age of the highest income householder:

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2013 to 2015

Note that the Scottish Household Survey is a sample survey and therefore the results provided are subject to a margin of error, and should be considered to be approximate estimates and not exact values. The margins of error for the local authority figures presented in this table range from +/- 2% in Glasgow (where the figure of 31% provided is estimated to be between 29% and 33%), up to +/- 4% in East Ayrshire (where the figure of 35% provided is estimated to be between 31% and 39%).

The Scottish Government’s ‘Age, Home and Community Strategy’ was published jointly with COSLA in late 2011 and sets out a clear vision along with a number of outcomes to help realise the aspirations of enabling older people to live independently at home. The Strategy covers all types and tenures of housing and housing-related support for older people. A review of the first five years of the strategy was published on 30 October 2017, and a refreshed strategy will be forthcoming early next year.

A number of initiatives to increase affordable housing options are funded through the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme. Over £756 million will be allocated for this purpose in 2018-19, which is a 28% increase of £166 million on the resources available in 2017-18.

Local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans set out the strategic investment priorities for affordable housing over a five-year period. These Plans inform Scottish Government housing investment decisions, and outline the mechanisms which local authorities would wish to use from within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in order to deliver their priorities across all tenures.

One such mechanism is the flexibility that exists within the grant subsidy regime to support higher cost, priority projects (which could include affordable housing options for people who are over 60). In addition another such mechanism gives priority access to enable applicants who are aged 60 or over to apply to the Scottish Government’s Open Market Shared Equity scheme and New Supply Shared Equity scheme where it can be demonstrated that their existing home is no longer suitable for their needs.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 places a statutory requirement on local authorities to produce a Local Housing Strategy (LHS). LHS guidance expects Local authorities to give full consideration to factors which may impact on the pace and scale of housing delivery including the capacity of the construction sector to meet the need and demand identified in the LHS. It is for local authorities to monitor what progress has been made in achieving the agreed outcomes of the Local Housing Strategy and ensuring that its strategy is kept under review.

The Scottish Government does not monitor or hold information on how local authorities and RSLs allocate social housing properties to women and children leaving domestic abuse situations.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that victims of abuse are rehoused quickly to remove them from the abuse. The Scottish Government’s Social Housing Allocations: A Practice Guide provides advice on the importance of having policies to deal sensitively with victims of abuse.

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/social-housing-allocations-a-practice-guide/

The Open Market shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) and New Supply Shared Equity Scheme (NSSE) both fall under the Scottish Government’s Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) and provide support for affordable home ownership through the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP).

The figures provided in this answer are based on the information provided in sales log forms which are completed and returned on a voluntary basis by homeowners who have purchased their property with assistance from one of the above shared equity schemes. The overall response rate for the OMSE and NSSE sales log forms is around 78%; however, this varies by local authority area, and in addition some forms can contain missing values for particular questions, and so the figures provided should therefore be treated as approximate estimates only.

The following table shows that during 2016/17, the first financial year of the current
5 year AHSP, at a Scotland level around 98% of properties purchased through the Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity schemes were by first time buyers and less than 1% were by those over 60 years old. Both schemes are targeted at first time buyers and priority groups.

Estimated proportions of sales for (a) first-time buyers and (b) people over 60, based on Open Market shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) and New Supply Shared Equity Scheme (NSSE) log forms received for the year 2016-17

Source: OMSE and NSSE sales log forms. The first time buyer and age information is based on the information provided about the first named purchaser in each sales log form

Local authorities are responsible for assessing housing need and demand and setting out in Local Housing Strategies their approach to meeting these requirements. This includes consideration of the needs of specific groups, including Older People. Where Local authorities identify requirements for older people's housing we would expect to see this reflected in Strategic Housing Investment Plans.