Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-34167

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to the mortgage to rent scheme for 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-34164

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to help first-time house buyers in 2010-11.

The Scottish Government is planning to spend £48.8 million in 2010-11 to continue helping first time buyers in particular to access home ownership through the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT). LIFT provides support through the following low-cost home ownership schemes, which are predominantly targeted at first time buyers on low to moderate incomes:

the New Supply Shared Equity scheme

the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme

the shared ownership scheme

GRO grants for owner occupation (provided through private developers)

Rural Home Ownership Grants.

As well as funding housing associations to provide new homes, the New Supply Shared Equity scheme now also includes a new innovative trial being funded in partnership with private developers.

In addition, the Scottish Government has pressed the UK Government to ensure that an exemption from stamp duty land tax on properties bought for less than £250,000 was implemented to help first time buyers to purchase a home.

An evaluation of the main LIFT schemes is being carried out this year to help inform how support for first-time buyers should best be targeted in future.

Question reference: S3W-34068

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many rehabilitations or conversions of houses local authorities and housing associations carried out in 2009-10.

Question reference: S3W-34067

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many off-the-shelf housing purchases from private developers local authorities and housing associations made in 2009-10.

Question reference: S3W-34066

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 5,846 affordable housing completions in 2009-10 included rehabilitations and conversions.

Question reference: S3W-33999

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the house completions under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme in the first quarter of 2010 were off-the-shelf purchases from private developers.

Question reference: S3W-34065

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 5,846 affordable housing completions in 2009-10 included off-the-shelf purchases from private developers.

Question reference: S3W-34000

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the house completions under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme in the first quarter of 2010 were conversions or rehabilitations.

Question reference: S3W-33800

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to abolish Home Reports.

There are no plans to abolish the Home Report.

Home Reports were introduced to provide buyers with more information upfront, helping them to make informed decisions on what for many is the biggest financial commitment of their lives.

Home Reports are very different from Home Information Packs (HIPs) in England and Wales. The Home Report contains a Single Survey, Energy Report and Property Questionnaire whereas HIPs contain a number of legal documents but no survey. The only document that is common between the two is the Energy Performance Certificate which is an EU requirement.

Question reference: S3W-33709

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have applied for pressured area status.

Thirteen local authorities have applied for 16 pressured area designations.

The following designations are currently in force:

1. East Renfrewshire (Eastwood area).

2. Highland (all areas excluding Caithness, Sutherland and some estates in Inverness and Fort William).

3. South Ayrshire (29 letting areas comprising much of Prestwick and Ayr, and rural settlements).

4. Moray (Elgin, Lossiemouth and Forres rural).

5. Fife (for St Andrews and East Neuk).

6. Dumfries and Galloway (69 villages of population less than 400 across the local authority area).

7. Fife (13 West Fife villages).

8. Perth and Kinross (21 letting areas across Highland Perthshire and in the rural areas around Perth).

9. Aberdeen City (35 letting areas across the city).

10. North Ayrshire (11 letting areas).

11. Aberdeenshire (88 letting areas).

12. North Lanarkshire (Cumbernauld and Moodiesburn).

13. Moray (Forres letting area).

14. Stirling (35 letting areas).

15. Moray (Speyside and Cairngorm National Park areas).

In addition, Argyll and Bute Council has recently submitted a pressured area designation application, which is currently being reviewed by Scottish Government.