This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Perth and Kinross housing
02/02/2007
Ministers have accepted the case put by Perth & Kinross Council for parts of its local authority area to be designated as 'pressured' for the purposes of the Right to Buy.
This means that some tenants within the designated areas will have the Right to Buy their rented council or housing association house suspended for five years.
The Pressured Area option was introduced in 2001 to assist councils facing particular local pressures. It helps councils to continue to offer homes for affordable rent to people on low incomes in areas where the Right to Buy could otherwise lead to serious shortages. The suspension of Right to Buy only applies to tenancies which have commenced since 30 September 2002.
Communities Minister Rhona Brankin said:
"Perth & Kinross Council has presented a convincing case for some settlements within its area, and has provided compelling evidence of substantial pressures on affordable housing in the designated areas.
"But this designation does not signal any change in our Right to Buy policy. The pressured area option has been available to local authorities for five years, and six other councils have successfully applied.
"This shows that local authorities are looking carefully at affordable housing in their own areas and deciding that the pressured area option can help them. There are now significant numbers of rented homes within the designated areas across the country."
The pressured area designation lasts for five years and applies to the following 21 letting areas across Highland Perthshire and in the rural areas around Perth:
Aberfeldy, Abernethy, Acharn, Almondbank, Balbeggie, Ballinluig, Bankfoot, Blair Atholl, Bridge of Earn, Dunkeld & Birnam, Dunning, Glencarse & St Maddoes, Guildtown, Inchture, Invergowrie, Kinloch Rannoch, Longforgan, Luncarty, Methven, Pitlochry and Scone.
The application from Perth & Kinross Council was for a total of 24 letting areas, although for three of these (Errol, Stanley and Glenfarg) the evidence was considered insufficient to meet the statutory criteria on this occasion. The Council can, if it wishes, apply for designation of these and any other areas at any point in the future.
An estimated 19,100 social rented homes now fall within the boundaries of designated pressured areas, and over 4,000 existing tenancies (which commenced after September 30 2002) currently affected by designations.
Right to Buy changed significantly when the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 reduced and capped discount levels, extended the qualifying period to five years and introduced the pressured area mechanism.
A statutory report on the effect of the Right to Buy presented to the Scottish Parliament in September 2006 did not support a change in Right to Buy policy. A significant conclusion in the report was that effects of the Right to Buy must be considered at the local level, and this chimes with the introduction of pressured area designations in the 2001 legislation. It is, however, too soon to say what impact the 2001 changes to discounts will have on sales, and we cannot judge this at least until Autumn 2007 (when 'modernised' tenants start to become eligible after completing their five-year qualifying period).