Chamber and committees

The average cost of land per housing unit is £29,452.

Guidance appears on the Scottish Government''s homelessness website pages which explain how the fund is to be used. Funding will be distributed via hubs of local authorities working together to implement locally agreed priorities. This process is initiated via a series of regional seminars arranged in August and September hosted by local authorities which will explore the Housing Options approach, consider practice examples and produce an action plan for the hub.

The Housing Options funding will be allocated via hubs of local authorities who will work together, and with others, to progress locally agreed priorities. Each hub will produce an action plan which will consider the key actions required to develop and refocus services around the Housing Options model to the prevention of homelessness. This process will be assisted by the use of peer review/support models, a Housing Options Toolkit and an awareness of local circumstances. It is for local authority partners to agree priorities, however it is envisaged that funding will be used for training and service development.

The Scottish Housing Options funding will be monitored by an evaluation process which will examine the benefits of implementing the Housing Options approach to the prevention of homelessness and how this impacts on progress towards the 2012 homelessness target. A full evaluation strategy is currently being developed.

Scottish Government match funding for the JESSICA Holding Fund will feature under the Regeneration Programmes budget heading in future years.

It is not possible to determine interest rates relating to the JESSICA programme at this stage. Interest rates will be determined by Urban Development Fund managers, and these have not yet been procured. Specifying a target rate of return from the outset is not seen as appropriate, as it could constrain the discretion of the European Investment Bank or Urban Development Funds.

The Scottish Government will contribute £26 million to the £50 million JESSICA Holding Fund. The European Commission will contribute the remaining £24 million from the European Regional Development Fund “ Priority 3 (Urban Regeneration) of the Lowland and Uplands Scotland Operational Programme.

The Scottish Government anticipates significant public and private co-investment as part of the JESSICA regeneration programme.

The European Investment Bank will look to make significant co-financing available, subject to their normal lending criteria. Big Lottery Fund are also looking at ways in which they can co-invest alongside the JESSICA Holding Fund, to help secure maximum benefit for local communities. We also expect Urban Development Funds to lever in private co-investment finance from banks or other institutional investors.

Projects in 13 areas of the country are eligible for investment from the JESSICA regeneration programme. Eligible areas are Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.

It is not possible to specify repayment timescales until Urban Development Funds are established, and a pipeline of projects has been identified. Decisions on these issues will be taken by the European Investment Bank, in conjunction with the JESSICA Investment Board and Urban Development Fund managers.