Local Housing Strategies
30. Section 10 of the Act expands the requirements relating to Local Housing Strategies in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, in order to make explicit the importance of the local authority's role in improving the condition of housing in its area and to ensure that this role is performed in a strategic way. The purpose to be accomplished by the local authority will include improving the standard of housing in the authority's area.
31. Furthermore, a local authority will have to include three additional elements in its Local Housing Strategy. The first is a strategy to ensure that it complies with section 85(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, ie the duty to ensure that all houses in its area that are below the tolerable standard are closed, demolished or brought up to the standard within a reasonable period. The second element is the authority's policy for identifying localities within its area that should be designated as Housing Renewal Areas, and the third is its strategy for using the scheme of assistance to improve the condition of houses.
Scottish Executive approach
32. Implementation of this aspect of the Act will be taken forward by a team in Communities Scotland.
33. The key steps in implementation will include
- working with stakeholders to develop revised Local Housing Strategy guidance for local authorities, to reflect the Act's requirements issuing revised guidance
- amending Communities Scotland's monitoring framework to reflect the revised guidance.
34. It is provisionally estimated that the adapted Local Housing Strategy process will be in place between mid-2007 and early 2008.
Local authority role
35. A local authority will have to ensure that it considers how it will most effectively deal with houses below the tolerable standard, identify areas to be designated as Housing Renewal Areas, and use the scheme of assistance to improve house conditions in its area.
Local authority preparation
36. Local authorities should begin to consider how the issues of dealing with houses below the tolerable standard, identifying localities to be designated as Housing Renewal Areas, and using the scheme of assistance to improve house conditions fit into their strategic housing priorities.