Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government published annual statistical information from local authorities on housing support services delivered under the Supporting People programme. Following the end of the programme, we consulted with local authorities and other stakeholders on the continuing need for this statistical information and the practical issues of obtaining it.

We will shortly publish the responses to the consultation and a decision on future reporting.

The Scottish Government makes available information on housing support services provided by both local authorities and other providers on the House Key website:

www.thehousekey.org.

The site aims to provide good quality information about housing support services throughout Scotland for both service users, providers and housing and social care professionals. It includes a Directory of Housing Support Services, divided into housing support services; sheltered and retirement housing, and home adaptation and repair services.

The Scottish Government published annual statistical information from local authorities on housing support services delivered under the Supporting People programme. Following the end of the programme, we consulted with local authorities and other stakeholders on the continuing need for this statistical information and the practical issues of obtaining it.

We will shortly publish the responses to the consultation and a decision on future reporting.

Regeneration Division within the Housing and Regeneration Directorate is at present considering the detail of the Town Centre Regeneration Fund, including provision for administration and allocation.

From 1 April 2009, under section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003, lenders will be required to inform the relevant local authority when they call in a mortgage or take court action for repossession. This will give authorities early notice of households who might be at risk of homelessness and allow them to provide appropriate advice and assistance. We are also developing new guidance for local authorities on prevention of homelessness which will be published by the end of March. The 1 April implementation date for the introduction of section 11, and the guidance on prevention, have both been agreed with COSLA to ensure that local authorities are appropriately prepared.

In addition, mortgage rescue schemes (Mortgage to Rent and Mortgage to Shared Equity) are operated nationally by the Scottish Government under the £35 million Home Owners Support Fund. Scottish local authorities with social landlord functions may participate in Mortgage to Rent, purchasing homes from people eligible for the scheme and providing a tenancy in return.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20618 on 26 February 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 Scottish Government is carefully considering how it can respond to the various recommendations addressed to it in the Housing Supply Task Force report. Planning Circular 1/2009, published on 16 February, provides planning authorities with advice on the production of development plan action programmes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20618 on 26 February 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.

Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 requires landlords and creditors to notify local authorities when raising proceedings for possession. The section does not apply directly to local authorities by virtue of section 11(1)(a) and does not place particular requirements on local authorities on receipt of notices.

The timetable for section 11 coming into force on 1 April 2009 was agreed with COSLA and guidance on the action to be taken when receiving notices has been developed in consultation with local authorities and other stakeholders and is currently available in draft on the Scottish Government''s website. This will be finalised, taking account of further comments from stakeholders, by the end of this month. Broader guidance on the prevention of homelessness, developed jointly with COSLA, will also be published shortly. Scottish Government officials have undertaken a number of awareness raising activities to ensure that landlords, creditors, local authorities, advice agencies and others are aware of section 11 coming into force, including distributing fliers; establishing bespoke web pages, and attending conferences and seminars.

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.

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_amendment151208-statsfront.hcsp#TopOfPage.

Average weekly rents for the last two years, broken down by local authority area, for local authorities and RSLs are shown in table 1 and table 2 respectively.

Table 1 “ Local Authority Average Weekly Rents

Local Authority Area	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	48.84	51.96
Aberdeenshire	44.81	46.90
Angus	40.11	41.96
Argyll and Bute	na	na
Clackmannanshire	43.73	45.30
Dumfries and Galloway	na	na
Dundee City	48.41	50.34
East Ayrshire	44.85	46.80
East Dunbartonshire	49.97	51.69
East Lothian	37.42	38.85
East Renfrewshire	45.06	46.56
Edinburgh, City of	54.82	61.57
Eilean Siar	na	na
Falkirk	45.78	46.93
Fife	45.03	47.10
Glasgow City	na	na
Highland	50.95	53.80
Inverclyde	59.42	na
Midlothian	38.05	40.61
Moray	36.78	38.07
North Ayrshire	44.19	47.28
North Lanarkshire	45.65	47.23
Orkney Islands	42.53	44.32
Perth and Kinross	41.65	44.00
Renfrewshire	52.74	54.17
Scottish Borders	na	na
Shetland Islands	52.80	53.85
South Ayrshire	45.17	47.57
South Lanarkshire	46.68	48.27
Stirling	45.89	48.34
West Dunbartonshire	44.83	45.82
West Lothian	47.70	49.37

Source: Housing Revenue Account returns to SG

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

Table 2 “ Registered Social Landlord (RSL) Weekly Secure Rents

Local Authority Area	2006-07	2007-08
Aberdeen City	52.39	55.80
Aberdeenshire	49.55	53.54
Angus	48.22	52.32
Argyll and Bute	47.62	51.37
City of Edinburgh	54.49	56.69
City of Glasgow	52.74	54.83
Clackmannanshire	51.16	53.87
Dumfries and Galloway	49.70	51.71
Dundee City	50.02	54.12
East Ayrshire	55.44	59.99
East Dunbartonshire	51.34	54.68
East Lothian	55.04	58.04
East Renfrewshire	55.68	58.26
Falkirk	47.44	50.09
Fife	50.45	54.27
Highland	51.34	53.65
Inverclyde	52.84	60.79
Midlothian	54.09	57.16
Moray	49.93	52.14
North Ayrshire	51.94	59.35
North Lanarkshire	52.70	55.87
Orkney Islands	47.46	53.07
Perth and Kinross	47.75	50.83
Renfrewshire	52.86	55.46
Scottish Borders	47.29	50.47
Shetland Islands	54.00	56.63
South Ayrshire	56.95	59.31
South Lanarkshire	53.07	57.21
Stirling	52.23	54.35
West Dunbartonshire	49.46	53.09
Western Isles	46.50	51.86
West Lothian	51.58	54.34

Source: Scottish Housing Regulator; Annual Performance and Statistical Returns 2006-07, 2007-08.

The Housing Supply Task Force published its final report on Friday 6 February 2009. A copy has been provided to the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 47758).