Chamber and committees

Scotland remains committed to ensuring the right homes are delivered in the right places and to working with local authorities in the planning and delivery of new homes. The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a New Homes Bonus Scheme.

Scotland has led the UK in the delivery of affordable housing having delivered more than 122,000 affordable homes since 2007, of which more than 86,000 are for social rent. The 10,458 affordable homes delivered to end March 2023 is the highest figure since the start of the statistical series in 2000.

Since 2007, Scotland has seen over 40% more affordable homes delivered per head of population than in England, and over 70% more than in Wales. We have also delivered over three times as many social rented homes per head of population than England over this period.

The number of all-sector new build homes completed in Scotland was up by 9% in the latest year to end March 2023, the highest annual figure to end March since 2008.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 and offers homeowners the option of a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating.

The launch of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme fulfils our commitment set out in the Programme for Government 2022-23 to replace the cashback element of HES funding with a standalone grant, and offers applicants a straight forward, flexible and accessible way to access funding for priority measures.

For zero emission heating measures, grant funding of up to £7,500 is available, with an additional £7,500 of funding available as an interest free loan. For energy efficiency measures, grant funding of up to 75% of the combined costs of measures up to a maximum £7,500 is available, with an additional £7,500 of funding available as an interest free loan.

There is a rural uplift of £1,500 for both the zero emission heating and energy efficiency grants for rural and island homes, meaning rural households can claim up to £18,000 in grant funding.

From the launch of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme in December 2022 to April 2023, 3606 applications for the scheme were received.

The Scottish Government HL1 data collection does not gather information relating directly to referrals under section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. This information is gathered by the Scottish Housing Regulator as part of the Annual Return on The Scottish Social Housing Charter and is published by local authorities in each year since 2013-14 on the their webpage .

The data for the latest year 2021-22 is available to download from the ‘Charter data - all social landlords dataset’ section, and section 5 referrals are found under indicator 24.1.

We do not collect a breakdown of homes brought back into use by local authority.

The number of empty homes returned to use with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership for each year since it was established in 2010 is published in their annual report and is available to view on the website: https://emptyhomespartnership.scot/ 

The following table shows how much the Scottish Government has spent on the SME Loan and cashback Scheme in each year since its inception in 2008.

Scottish Government collects information on whether any member of a household making a homelessness application to a local authority (in Scotland) slept rough a) during the 3 months preceding and b) the night before the application.

Data broken down by financial year and local authority is published in the annual Homelessness in Scotland publication, with the most recent providing data up to 2021-22. Tables 2 & 3 of the Main Tables associated with the latest publication contain data related to rough sleeping.

Data is not available prior to 2002-03 as this is the year data collection began.

The data collection defines rough sleeping as any member of the applicant household who has slept outside, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters) or slept in a building or other place not designed for habitation (such as barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations etc.).

Data is not gathered for any household rough sleeping who does not make a homelessness application to a local authority in Scotland.

The following table shows how many SMEs have applied to the Scottish Governments SME Loan and Cashback scheme since its inception in 2008.

I refer the member to the question S6W-17702 on 19 May 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The provision of allotments is the responsibility of local authorities as set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, Part 9.

In accordance with section 121 of Part 9 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities report annually on the provision of allotments in their areas. The legislation clearly defines the mandatory information to be included in the annual allotment reports including, but not limited to;

• the location and size of each allotment site,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site,
• the rent payable,
• the number of people on the waiting list and how many have been waiting 5 years or more,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site that are accessible by a disabled person,
• the number of allotments adjusted to meet the needs of a tenant who is a disabled person,
• the income received, and expenditure incurred, by the authority in connection with allotment sites,
• such other information as may be prescribed.

Reports are available online from each local authority. The Scottish Government does not collect this information centrally and does not hold historic data on allotment provision.

No-one Dies Alone is one way to provide emotional support and companionship to people at the end of life, especially those who may be more isolated. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of this support and an overarching aim of the new Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy that we are developing is that Scotland is a place where people and communities can come together to support each other, take action, and talk openly about planning ahead, serious illness, dying, death, and bereavement.

The Scottish Government does not have plans to roll out the No-one Dies Alone initiative but does support the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care to develop and promote public health initiatives such as No-on Dies Alone, to support communities and volunteers to care for those who are near the end of life.