Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-10686

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) unique households, (b) advice interactions, including advice provided to customers during telephone or email advice discussions and (c) low-income, potentially fuel-poor clients who were offered support Home Energy Scotland (i) has had capacity to support and (ii) has actually supported, in each year of its operation.

Please find data below for Home Energy Scotland advice interactions. Prior to 2013, fuel poverty was not a separate focus for advice services. Specific fuel poverty advice services figures are only available from 2013.

	2013-14	2013-14	2014-15	2014-15	2015-16	2015-16	2016-17	2016-17	2017-18	2017-18
	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual
Unique households	125,000	90,887	120,000	98,998	110,000	94,411	95,000	92,618	85000	93,962
Advice interactions	200,000	182,158	180,000	326,600	165,000	333,609	260,000	305,672	260,000	313,170
Low-income, potentially fuel poor clients offered support	55,000	49,404	55,000	45,932	55,000	43,148	55,000	33,322	35,000	31,598

	2018-19	2018-19	2019-20	2019-20	2020-21	2020-21	2021-22	2021-22	2022-23
	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target
Unique households	87,500	89,018	87,500	92,681	77,000	90,468	120,000	114,392	132,000
Advice interactions	260,000	315,912	260,000	314,989	260,000	345,344	400,000	424,083	440,000
Low-income, potentially fuel poor clients offered support	35,000	30,920	35,000	38,737	35,000	46,369	36,000	42,092	44,000

Question reference: S6W-10922

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on which dates it has met representatives of the mortgage lending industry to discuss the implications of the cost of living crisis for homeowners with mortgages on their property.

The Deputy First Minister met with the financial services sector at the quarterly Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD) on 30 August 2022 and discussed measures industry and government can partner on to support households and businesses in Scotland.

Officials also regularly engage with UK Finance (representative body for the banking and Finance Industry) to discuss a range of issues affecting the mortgage sector including at their quarterly Board meetings in Scotland, last held on 10 June 2022, and on 1 September 2022 where discussions included the cost crisis, and the support lenders can offer customers in difficulty.

The Scottish Government remain in contact with the financial services sector on a regular basis in the current period and expect to engage regularly in the future.

Question reference: S6W-10638

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to incorporate use of existing housing stock in order to meet its social homes target, and how many purchases of existing stock are forecast to be made in each year to 2032.

Use of existing stock, whether purchased on the open market or rehabilitated, has and will continue to have a role in delivering affordable homes towards the target in line with strategic local priorities. We do not hold forecasts to 2032. Local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans set out the funding priorities for affordable housing in their area for the next five years. These may include local authorities’ rationale for supporting use of existing stock and some estimates but will rely on properties becoming available to purchase.

Question reference: S6W-10633

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward compulsory sale orders for (a) vacant and (b) empty properties, and, if this is the case, what its timescale is for doing so.

Question reference: S6W-10676

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09619 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, how many buildings to date have been remediated by developers across Scotland, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-10426

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many Home Owners' Support Fund applications it has processed on an exceptional basis where (a) an eviction notice has been served and (b) a trustee intends to force the sale of the property, broken down by each year of the fund's operation.

Question reference: S6W-10245

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what the average processing time has been for (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications in each of the last six years, and how many applications in each of the last six years took (i) less than one year (ii) one to two years (iii) two to three years and (iv) more than three years to process.

The Scottish Government does not collect data in relation to the turnaround of unsuccessful applications. The following table shows the average processing time in months for successful applications during each of the last six years.

Year	Average Processing Time (Months)
2016-17	5
2017-18	6
2018-19	9
2019-20	11
2020-21	15
2021-22	20

The Home Owners Support Fund is a voluntary scheme and the full co-operation and participation of applicants, social landlords, lenders, solicitors and surveyors is necessary for the smooth and efficient delivery of the scheme. The pandemic made it more difficult to progress cases, particularly as social landlords were unable to visit properties for repairs assessments.

The following table shows the number of successful applications and the timescales, during each of the last six years.

	Number of Successful Applications Processed in
Year	< 1 Year	1-2 years	2-3	> 3 years
2016-17	65	0	0	0
2017-18	39	0	0	0
2018-19	29	3	0	0
2019-20	21	7	0	0
2020-21	1	7	0	0
2021-22	0	6	3	0

Question reference: S6W-10242

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published average apartment rental charges, used to calculate purchase subsidy grants under the Home Owners' Support Fund, since 2017 and, if this is not the case, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

The average apartment rental charges have not been routinely published up to this point as we have considered this an operational matter. Figures are updated each year in line with CPI inflation figures and grant calculations are shared with social landlords before the purchase of a property is agreed. Going forward, the publication of annual rental charges will be looked at as part of the wider scheme review.

Question reference: S6W-10263

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the HOSFGN/002: Property Thresholds Guidance has been updated for 2022-23 and, if this is not the case, what it estimates (a) the updated property thresholds for the Home Owners’ Support Fund and (b) the number of households with outstanding mortgages with properties under the valuation thresholds would be, had the guidance been updated for 2022-23, broken down by local authority.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10262 on 7 September 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested. Property thresholds are being considered as part of the review.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-10244

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many households who have applied to the Home Owners' Support Fund since it started have (a) been protected from and (b) subsequently experienced homelessness.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10243 on 7 September 2022 which shows the number of successful applications to the Home Owners Support Fund in the last 6 years. Where a social landlord acquires a property through the scheme, the homeowner will remain in their home on Scottish Secure Tenancy terms. The Scottish Government does not collect data on homeowners’ circumstances after their application has successfully concluded.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

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