Chamber and committees

Yes. Following recommendations from its Allocations Policy Review Advisory Group, the Scottish Government has committed to providing social landlords with a new practical guide to social housing allocations. This will address the areas considered by the group, set out the scope of local decision making and provide a range of practical examples landlords may wish to consider.

The advisory group''s outcomes and conclusions paper and the Scottish Government''s response to the recommendations are available on the Scottish Government''s website www.scotland.gov.uk. A copy of these documents has also been placed in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. numbers 49552 and 49553).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28570 on 13 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. All options that help boost the supply of new affordable housing, such as infrastructure development, are being examined.

The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. This includes the relationship between a housing investment bank and the Scottish Investment Bank.

No.

The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. All options that help boost the supply of new affordable housing, including the relationship between a housing investment bank and the European Investment Bank are being examined.

The Minister for Housing and Communities has identified the need for a wide range of alternative private finance options in order to help boost the supply of new affordable homes. Discussions about this have taken place with a variety of organisations and stakeholders, including the European Investment Bank and housing associations at the recent annual conference of the Rural and Islands Housing Associations'' Forum. As part of these discussions the concept of a housing investment bank has been raised.

We discussed the Home Report with all of Scotland''s major lenders for house purchase mortgages (as distinct from remortgage) around the time the Home Report was introduced and they confirmed that they would regard the Home Report as a sound basis for valuations, provided the surveyor was on their panel, the valuation was prepared within their time limits and there were not concerns about risk related to the particular house or borrower which required additional assurance on value. These parameters are generally the same as lenders applied to surveys and valuations prior to the introduction of the Home Report. We understand from the Council of Mortgage Lenders that they are not aware of any change in this approach and we do not have other evidence to suggest such a change.

The Scottish Government will undertake an interim review of the Home Report after 12 months of operation and we will take on board any refinements that are required to improve its implementation.

Officials have had continued informal contact with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) representatives since the introduction of the Home Report, including a meeting on 6 October, to monitor whether there has been any change in the position on the Home Report taken by the major lenders around the time of introduction. Independent consultants examining data needs for the proposed interim review of the operation of the Home Report discussed data sources and potential issues with the CML representatives, and the interim review will include discussion with CML.

Statistics on average Registered Social Landlord (RSL) rents are published by the Scottish Housing Regulator at:

http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_statisticstables2008-09.hcsp#TopOfPage.

Statistics on average local authority rents are published on the Housing Statistics for Scotland website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/HRA2008-09.

Average weekly rents for 2008-09, broken down by local authority area, for local authorities and Registered Social Landlords (secure rents) are shown in the following table:

Local Authority Area	Local Authorities	Registered Social Landlords
Scotland	50.36	57.89
Aberdeen City	53.83	57.58
Aberdeenshire	48.89	56.58
Angus	44.02	54.27
Argyll and Bute	na	52.99
Clackmannanshire	47.34	57.12
Dumfries and Galloway	na	55.18
Dundee City	52.33	56.73
East Ayrshire	48.41	63.10
East Dunbartonshire	53.14	57.64
East Lothian	40.38	60.23
East Renfrewshire	47.96	63.24
Edinburgh, City of	60.16	59.26
Eilean Siar	na	54.49
Falkirk	48.33	52.67
Fife	48.42	56.38
Glasgow City	na	59.35
Highland	56.75	56.81
Inverclyde	na	60.41
Midlothian	42.41	60.43
Moray	38.99	56.15
North Ayrshire	50.90	58.28
North Lanarkshire	48.88	58.72
Orkney Islands	40.91	55.45
Perth and Kinross	46.72	53.04
Renfrewshire	55.45	58.10
Scottish Borders	na	51.94
Shetland Islands	54.93	60.42
South Ayrshire	49.48	62.06
South Lanarkshire	54.65	59.46
Stirling	51.09	56.76
West Dunbartonshire	47.67	55.01
West Lothian	52.33	56.98

Sources: Local authority data is from Housing Revenue Account returns to the Scottish Government and RSL average weekly secure rents are from the Scottish Housing Regulator; Annual Performance and Statistical Returns 2008-09.

Note: values of na are for local authorities that have transferred their stock to housing associations.