Chamber and committees

We have indicated that we plan to build 5,000 new council houses during this Parliament, but have not set an overall target for council/housing association homes for social rent. We received a very positive response for the 2011-12 Innovation and Investment Fund by the deadline of 31 May. Work is now under way, involving our local authority partners, to pick the best bids against the criteria we set out. We will not know the final make-up of our approvals from this programme until all the bids have been assessed. We hope that final decisions will be made at the end of August 2011. Plans for future financial years have not yet been set.

No. All homes provided under the National Housing Trust initiative will be classed as private sector lets and will be available for rent below the levels of housing benefit limits. This makes them accessible to households on lower incomes, and therefore available as affordable housing.

We have indicated that we plan to build 5,000 new council houses during this Parliament, but have not set an overall target for council/housing association homes for social rent.

In 2011-12, Glasgow City and City of Edinburgh councils will offer the same opportunities for registered social landlords to bid for grant funding from within their transfer of management of development funding budgets, as other registered social landlords have through the Innovation and Investment Fund. Both local authorities are currently assessing the bids received against the criteria set out. We expect final decisions on the make up of the approvals will be made by the local authorities by the end of August 2011. Plans for future financial years have not yet been set.

The Scottish Government has met with all of these local authorities to discuss their experiences with the current round of the National Housing Trust initiative (NHT). Although these particular local authorities were unable to secure suitable projects from bids received through the current procurement, discussions are continuing with these local authorities over plans to extend and expand the NHT approach.

We aim to enable around 320 households to access home ownership in 2011-12 under the New Supply Shared Equity with Developers Scheme. We have not set a target for beyond 2011-12.

The capital value of schools built as part of Aberdeen City Council’s 3Rs school building project is £120.5 million.

The following table sets out the annual unitary charge payments made by Aberdeen City Council to date for their 3Rs school building project.

The Scottish Government will provide funding of £171.6 million to Aberdeen City Council over the 30-year lifetime of their 3Rs school building project.

The following table sets out the level of Scottish Government funding provided to Aberdeen City Council for their 3Rs school building project in each year to date.