Chamber and committees

Responsibility for tackling the issue of empty homes rests with local authorities as part of their Local Housing Strategies. It is an expectation set out in the guidance that, as part of a wider strategic approach to address housing need, alongside neighbourhood renewal and community planning initiatives, their strategy should consider whether the existing public and private housing stock is being managed to best effect and if there are management solutions based on that stock to existing or emerging housing problems.

An analysis of data from the Post Census Vacant Survey is available through the Publications and Data – Data Library section on the Scottish Executive Housing Statistics website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

Table 1 provides background information on the number of vacant housing authority dwellings at 31 March for each of the last five years, by reason for the vacancy. It cannot be used to determine how many vacant dwellings could be brought into use. Table 2 gives year-on-year percentage changes.

Table 1: Housing Authority Dwellings Vacant at 31 March, Numbers

Table 2: Housing Authority Dwellings Vacant at 31 March, Year-on-Year Percentage Changes

Notes:

1. Figures are for local authority and Scottish Homes stock.

2. Figures contain some estimates due to outstanding/incomplete returns.

3. Due to housing stock transfers, figures for local authority dwellings in Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders are not included in 2004. This will account for some of the decrease seen between 2003 and 2004.

4. If a dwelling falls into more than one category, it is allocated to the category that appears first in the table.

5. Dwellings are included in category (a) if they are used solely as temporary accommodation for the homeless.

6. There is no information to determine whether dwellings in category (b) could be made habitable.

7. Dwellings are included in category (c) if the modernisation or repair scheme is due to be implemented within two years.

8. Dwellings are included in category (d) if the authority has developed a strategy to deal with the low demand.

9. The table provides a snapshot of the situation as at 31 March each year. Dwellings may remain vacant for longer than one year, or become vacant intermittently over the five year period. Therefore, the rows cannot be summed to give a total number of vacant dwellings over the period.

The median waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with an orthodontic consultant, following referral, by NHS hospital, in the year ended 30 September 2004, is provided in the table.

NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for a First Out-Patient Appointment¹ with an Orthodontic Consultant, Following a General Medical/Dental Practitioner Referral. Year Ended 30 September 2004^P

^PProvisional.

Notes:

1. Includes patients with a waiting time guarantee. Excludes patients with availability status codes.

2. Median waiting time not provided where the number of appointments is less than 40.

3. Information for Glasgow Dental Hospital and School relates to the period 1 April 2004 to 30 September 2004. Data is not available prior to that period.

The number of houses which have been returned to use through the Rural Empty Properties Grant (REPG) and Empty Homes Initiative (EHI) in each local authority area in each of the last five years are as follows:

Table 1 – REPG by Local Authority (1999-2000 to 2003-04)

Table 2 – EHI by Local Authority (1999-2000 to 2003-04)

Note: Information on units has been recorded in line with individual EHI funding rounds. The last funding round for EHI completed in 2001-02 although there was residual expenditure in the next two years which can be seen in table 3.

The percentage of the budget allocated under each scheme which was expended in each year was as follows:

Table 3 – REPG and EHI Expenditure (1999-2000 to 2003-04)

With regard to the level of successful applications in each year, under REPG, only details of approved projects per year are recorded, which can be seen in table 1. Under EHI, the final funding round covered the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02. In total, 80 projects were initially approved across the three years in 29 local authorities with an additional 14 projects being allocated funding in 2001-02. Only details of approved projects are recorded which can be seen in table 2.

Communities Scotland offers a range of schemes to promote low cost home ownership targeted at those on lower than average incomes such as first time buyers. In the period 1999-2000 to 2003-04, as shown in the following table, Communities Scotland grant assisted for construction, the building of thefollowing number of low cost home ownership homes.

Communities Scotland Grant Assisted Low Cost Home Ownership Homes (1999-2000 to 2003-04)

Source: ISD Scotland, Medical and Dental Workforce Census.

Notes:

1. A doctor may hold more than one appointment. Their appointments may be in more than one NHS organisation. In this case, they are counted once under each organisation but only once in the total.

2. WTE (whole tme euivalent) adjusts headcount staff figures to take account of part time staff. NHS board totals do not add to Scotland figure due to rounding.

ISD Scotland will be releasing the medical and dental census position, correct to 30 September 2004, on 10 February 2005.