ISBN 0 7559 6025 4
This document is also available in pdf format (200k)
1. This supplementary guidance should be read in conjunction with the Scottish Executive Development Department ( SEDD) Circular 5/2002, specifically paragraphs 49-76 and Annex B, which is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/housing/mrtb.pdf.
Background
2. The concept of 'pressured area designation' was introduced in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. It enables a local authority to submit an application to the Scottish Ministers which, if approved, has the effect of suspending the right to buy in the designated area for tenants of social rented sector housing with that right, where the tenancy commenced on or after 30 September 2002, for up to five years. A local authority can subsequently seek further extensions to the suspension, again for periods of up to five years.
3. Following receipt of the first few applications for pressured area designation, the Executive and Communities Scotland have undertaken a review of the guidance available to local authorities and the way in which it has operated in practice. As a result, this supplementary guidance has been prepared to reflect the experiences of the Executive, Communities Scotland and local authorities.
Additional advice and guidance
4. The Executive published comprehensive guidance on the application process (and other changes to the Right to Buy provisions arising from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001), in SEDD circular 5/2002 in July 2002. In particular, local authorities are referred to paragraph 59 which states " …it is for local authorities to make proposals for the designation of pressured areas but they may wish to discuss any proposals informally with the Scottish Executive before they are submitted". This approach has proved to be very useful and the Scottish Executive would encourage local authorities to make contact at an early stage if they are considering making an application.
5. In compiling an application for pressured area designation, a local authority would be expected to provide accurate and up to date data as part of the evidence. Additional advice and guidance concerning the use of local administrative data are available on the Communities Scotland website. In particular, Annex 5 of the "Local Housing System Analysis: Good Practice Guide (O'Sullivan, Maclennan, Britain - September 2004)" covers data processing and assessment of the quality of data being used, and includes extensive discussion on general data quality issues.
Contact details
5. If you require clarification of the information contained in either this or the 2002 guidance, please get in touch with one of the contacts below.
David Steane
Scottish Executive
Tel: 0131 244 5579
david.steane@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
or
Gavin Kennedy
Communities Scotland
Tel: 0131 479 5204
gavin.kennedy@communitiesscotland.gsi.gov.uk
General
7. The first designation of a pressured area in Scotland was made in October 2005. This has led to an increased interest in the pressured area mechanism, and a number of other local authorities have submitted applications to the Scottish Ministers for assessment. This is a new process and valuable experience has been gained by both local authorities and the assessors in Communities Scotland and the Executive.
8. The guidance prepared in 2002 to assist potential applicants in identifying what might be required to achieve a successful designation has proved very helpful, but with the benefit of practical experience from handling 'live' applications it is considered appropriate to supplement that guidance at this point to draw upon the experience gained to date.
9. As is intended in the enabling legislation, local authorities have adopted a range of approaches in their applications in response to the different circumstances in their application areas. Different geographical units have been used and different indicators of pressure have been adopted. Of particular note is the recognition that indications of pressure in rural communities can be quite distinct from those in more urbanised areas. This distinction has been reflected in the assessment of applications seeking the designation of rural areas in Scotland.
10. It has emerged that some pieces of evidence are more critical than others to enable an application to be assessed fully and fairly. Without these specific pieces of information in the application, it is likely that the assessment process will, at worst, be unable to come to a view or, more likely, will involve further requests of the applicant and the potential for considerable delay. The items which come into this category are detailed below. It is intended that, by highlighting this information, local authorities will find it easier to assemble the evidence used for the assessment of any application.
11. Section A sets out the core evidence that experience has shown to be of central importance. Applicants will wish to pay particular attention to the evidence covered in this section when preparing their case. If, in the view of the applicant, the case for designation as illustrated by the core evidence is exceptionally strong, then the applicant may consider that there is less of a requirement to strengthen that case through the presentation of all the detailed supporting evidence (set out in Section C). The Executive and Communities Scotland are supportive of this approach, but suggest that in all cases potential applicants discuss the nature of their proposed application with officials in advance.
12. Section B identifies data which should be provided in all applications. This section also provides some additional information on the provision of maps and clarifies the type of evidence required to satisfy the legislative requirement to undertake consultation.
13. Section C illustrates the type of evidence which would be considered 'supporting' rather than 'core'. 'Supporting evidence' will be of greater significance in the assessment of those applications where the case for designation, as illustrated by the core evidence, is less clear cut. In those circumstances, it is anticipated that applicants will wish to devote more attention to the supporting evidence in order to strengthen the application. It is intended that this approach should simplify the application and assessment process and make it easier for both applicants and assessors to focus upon the specific elements of an application that will determine the eventual outcome.
Section A - Core evidence to support an application
Ratio of waiting lists to lets
14. The ratio of the number of applicants on the waiting list to the number of lets has emerged as a fundamental consideration in the assessment process. Local authorities should provide, wherever possible, the waiting list to lets ratio for the last three years. This could be for either calendar years or financial years. Where this is not possible, for whatever reason, an explanation should be provided.
15. There is no preferred geographical unit which should be used in determining ratios; while large areas may be appropriate in some circumstances, this may not always be the case. Some applications have presented evidence on the basis of local letting areas, and others have looked at council wards or school catchments. The geographical unit selected should, however, be recognisable to current and potential tenants as a housing search area.
16. Local authorities should ensure that the waiting list information which they use to determine these ratios is as up to date and accurate as possible. In particular, all transfer applicants, and those classed as not having a need, should be removed from the totals used to calculate ratios. Additionally, the ratios used should be based on applicants' first choices only. Finally, local authorities should provide details of the last review of both its own waiting list and the waiting lists of any Registered Social Landlords ( RSLs) operating in the application areas.
17. Local authorities may wish to be mindful of how the ratios in their application areas compare with the national average. This is currently somewhere between 5:1 and 6:1 but, of course, it fluctuates over time. It should not be assumed that areas with ratios above the national average will necessarily be stronger candidates for designation, nor that areas with lower ratios will inevitably be unsuccessful. These ratios are not, in any event, the sole determining factor to be taken into account for each area.
18. The legislation allows for areas to be included in the application, not only where the evidence demonstrates that need "is" substantially in excess of social rented housing available, but also where the need "is likely to be" substantially in excess. Applicants may wish to consider carefully how this can be demonstrated.
Distinctions between urban and rural areas
19. Applications to date have included both urban and rural areas, from large cities to very small villages, and it is recognised that there can be different dynamics at work in urban and rural housing areas.
20. In rural areas, in particular, it may be difficult to demonstrate that the two legislative criteria have been met as some significant data may not be available at the level of very small settlements. It may be that the lack of available social rented property in a particular area has a distorting effect on the waiting list information. In these circumstances, an application should contain a narrative describing the situation, and consideration should be given to presenting data such as stock numbers, alongside either population or household numbers, in making a case for the impact of the Right to Buy on the sustainability of communities. An indication of anticipated new build affordable housing over the next three years will help to put current stock numbers into context.
21. If local authorities wish to protect stock in urban areas, in the interests of retaining mixed tenure and/or income communities, then expressing the number of social rented units as a percentage of total housing stock in the area may also assist in presenting the case. A narrative describing the local circumstances would also be recommended.
Section B - Data which should be provided in all applications
22. There are some key pieces of factual information which help assessors to gain a picture of both the areas applied for and the wider local authority area, and to understand the context of the evidence provided. These should be included in all applications and are listed below.
23. For each of the areas being applied for:
- the number of social rented units; and
- the total number of modernised tenancies that would be immediately affected, split into:
(a) local authority tenancies; and
(b) any RSL tenancies (as a result of a previous transfer e.g. from Scottish Homes) or because properties were built with grant agreed after 30 September 2002.
24. At the local authority level:
- the total number of social rented units;
- the estimated affordable housing net need per annum, disaggregated at an appropriate sub-area level where possible, obtained from the most recent housing needs assessment;
- a statement of the expected number of new affordable units for rent and/or low-cost home ownership for the next three years (where practicable);
- the number of Right to Buy sales for each of the previous three years, working backwards from statistics in the latest quarter available.
Estimated number of sales
25. It is helpful for assessors to know the local authority's view of the estimated number of sales which would be suspended, during the course of the designation period, by a successful pressured area designation. It is acknowledged that this will necessarily be an estimate because sales will always be subject to tenants' future intentions, which are difficult to predict. It is therefore recommended that a best estimate, based upon recent trends, is provided, together with an explanation of how the estimate was determined.
Maps
26. A map or maps showing the boundary of any proposed pressured area must be provided, but these do not necessarily need to identify the individual houses affected. However, maps should be sufficiently detailed to distinguish clearly between those houses which are within and those which are outwith the proposed designated pressured area. This could be particularly important in more rural communities, where houses may be widely dispersed.
27. Local authorities are encouraged to submit maps electronically in a format compatible with ArcView software. Staff in Communities Scotland area offices will be happy to test sample data files to ensure the data is compatible. Advice on maps is available centrally from the Executive or through the Communities Scotland local office network.
Consultation
28. The legislation requires local authorities to undertake consultation with:
- every RSL with houses in the application area; and
- all bodies which represent the interests of tenants and other residents in the area.
29. Local authorities should provide evidence of consultation, for example, letters sent to RSLs or representative bodies, minutes of meetings with such bodies, letters to tenants, etc. There is no legal requirement, however, to inform those on the waiting list, although the local authority may consider this to be good practice. An acceptable vehicle for informing tenants would be via information contained in a newsletter.
Section C - Supporting evidence
30. The reliance on the following pieces of evidence is considered to be of secondary importance to the core evidence described in Section A. A local authority may, however, wish to consider the inclusion of such supporting evidence where it is felt that this would strengthen an application.
Prices of former Right to Buy properties upon resale
31. In practice, Right to Buy resales data have proved to be particularly resource-intensive to provide. Right to Buy properties, when they are resold to a private buyer, tend to trade at prices at least close to, if not equivalent to, prices for similar private sector properties in many parts of Scotland. It is not considered essential, therefore, for local authorities to provide information on former council properties sold on the open market either by using Sasines data or by consulting local property professionals.
Income of waiting list applicants
32. Similarly, local authorities need not provide information on income data, to show whether waiting list applicants can sustain a mortgage of sufficient size to purchase a former council property.
Growing shortfall of social rented accommodation
33. Providing an analysis of how a local authority's social rented stock has decreased historically can also be time consuming. Assessors will certainly be interested in current levels of provision and need in the application areas, but the historical patterns of stock loss may be of secondary importance in a strong application. The rates of initial Right to Buy sales, and how historical and current sales rates compare to stock levels in 1980, are also considered to be less important than strong evidence of the current position and the numbers of Right to Buy sales over the past three years.