Chamber and committees

Today, and on numerous occasions, I have laid out the scope of what we are doing, such as the 100,000 homes that we have already delivered and the ambition for 110,000 affordable homes going forward. However, we need to make sure that those homes are spread equitably. That is why we are bringing forward a specific plan for rural and island Scotland, which will give an opportunity for members such as Liam McArthur and local community organisations and housing providers in Orkney and elsewhere to input into that plan, in order to address the specific needs of their local areas. However, the scale of our ambition is hard to dispute.

Yes. We are making £200 million available over the next five years to support social landlords across Scotland to increase the energy efficiency of their existing stock.

In addition, the affordable housing supply programme is already funding buy-back of empty homes by local authorities and registered social landlords. Social landlords can then access further funding from the social housing net zero heat fund to install zero-emissions heating systems and energy efficiency measures in those homes.

Our “Housing to 2040” strategy includes a range of actions to support and encourage home owners to bring long-term empty homes back into use.

The member raises a good point. Yes—the Scottish Government will make the necessary funding available to social housing providers in the islands and elsewhere, if necessary, to help to cover the costs that are associated with meeting building regulation standards in relation to sprinkler systems.

Although grant providers and recipients will wish to maximise the value that is obtained through the affordable housing supply programme, that does not prevent higher-cost priority projects from proceeding. Flexibility to award grant subsidies above the benchmark is available where social housing providers can demonstrate why additional grant funding is required and the nature of the higher cost.

I thank Ariane Burgess for her question. We are developing proposals for compulsory purchase and sale orders in the context of the policies and actions that are set out in “Housing to 2040”, and in the route map that it includes, to tackle empty homes and vacant and derelict land. There will be more information about the timescale for that in due course.

We need to do both things. Tackling empty homes remains a key priority. Much of our existing housing stock will still be in use by 2050, which is why it is essential that tackling empty properties is part of the solution to meeting housing demand. We want all homes to be occupied, with none being left empty without good reason. The actions in “Housing to 2040” will help to ensure that empty homes are put to the best possible use. The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership estimates that the average cost of returning an empty home to a habitable state is between £6,000 and £12,000.

We are committed to expanding social and affordable housing across Scotland. The programme for government makes clear our commitment to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70 per cent will be for social rent and 10 per cent will be in our remote, rural and island communities.

We have made over £327 million available to Highland Council and the three island local authority areas over the current session of Parliament through our affordable housing supply programme. That follows the £266 million that was made available over the previous session of Parliament, which delivered nearly 3,000 affordable homes.

The member lodged financial amendments that require to be looked at through the budget process. A number of members have made a point about the reach to carers. People say that they want to reach more carers. Surely it is better to look at the need for carers support in the round rather than to try to amend a very clearly tight bill.

The Conservatives were responsible for the right to buy, and our housing policy is now trying to pick up the pieces from that scheme. As part of that, there are a number of initiatives that local authorities can take forward, including the purchase of right to buy properties, which we would encourage. For some years, we have been supporting local authorities to purchase existing properties if doing so can clearly be seen to support the achievement of the priorities and objectives that are set out in their local housing strategy, and we will continue to do so.

I can write to Miles Briggs with the specific details, but he will see from the extent of the on-going work on homelessness that a lot of effort and resource is going in, not least during the pandemic. I can update the relevant committee on whether every penny of that £50 million has been allocated.

However, surely it is a good-news story that a further £50 million has been allocated to tackle homelessness. I hope that Miles Briggs will be able to welcome the comment from Crisis that

“the proportion of people suffering from the worst forms of homelessness in Scotland is about half as high as in England”,

because of the policies of the Scottish Government. Surely even he can recognise when the Scottish Government actually gets things right, with policies that leading homelessness charities such as Crisis praise.

Absolutely. We will continue to call on the UK Government to provide support to the poorest in society, not to take it away. As the member points out, people in Scotland are facing a perfect storm of hardship this winter. As food and energy prices soar, support from the UK Government in the form of the universal credit uplift, the self-employment scheme and the furlough scheme, are being withdrawn all at the same time. At its meeting yesterday, the Scottish Parliament showed the broad cross-party unity for reversing those cuts to avoid the immense hardship that they will cause. The UK Government should listen to those cross-party calls.