Introduction
Housing and the current economic climate
At this time of economic difficulty and uncertainty governments must move quickly and decisively to protect jobs and investment. The Scottish Government is pulling all the levers at our disposal to protect families, businesses and employment in Scotland.
Action on housing policy has been at the heart of our response. We have acted swiftly and decisively to help the housing market, house-building, homeowners and households. We recognise the importance of meeting housing need and demand, preventing homelessness, and the contribution that the construction industry makes to Scotland's economic prosperity.
As a key part of that action we, with our local government partners, have brought forward £120m of our investment in affordable housing, speeding up the provision of much-needed homes and helping to maintain activity and employment in the construction industry. We have already announced the allocation of the full £40m for 2008-09 and have built the £80m accelerated spending into our announced programme for 2009-10.
We have extended the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme across all of Scotland, with a £60m budget next year to help more families to buy and so help to stimulate the lower end of the housing market. And we have made great progress with our plans to kick-start a new generation of council-house building.
We have also taken several important decisions to support those at risk of losing their homes as a result of the economic downturn. Our new Home Owners' Support Fund, backed by £35m of funding, will help people at risk of repossession to stay in their homes. And we have made an extra £3m available over two years to expand our In-Court Advice and other services, provided a further £1m to expand Citizens Advice services, and amended the legal aid criteria to ensure that a million more people will be eligible to access legal aid this year to protect their rights.
That represents just some of the action that we are taking at this difficult time. In the context of the tightest financial settlement since devolution, and the limits of our powers, this Government is doing everything it can to make a difference for the people and businesses of Scotland.
However, in addressing the immediate pressures of the downturn, we keep sight of the need to press ahead with the reforms necessary to reinvigorate social housing and make sure it can continue meeting the housing needs of a quarter of Scottish households in the long term. These reforms are the subject of this paper.
Overview of proposed reforms
In Firm Foundations we outlined how reforming the law on Right to Buy ( RTB) and modernising regulation could help to reinvigorate social housing. We set out now our proposals to introduce legislation that delivers these reforms.
To illustrate how we might implement our proposals, we have prepared a draft Bill that would achieve our original commitment to end RTB on new social housing and create a modernised regime of regulation.
We are also responding to the groundswell of opinion pressing for further amendments to RTB by outlining other changes we might include in the Bill when it is introduced in the Parliament:
- ending RTB for new tenants; and
- extending and devolving the process of designating pressured areas.
In addition, we outline proposals for:
- developing new guidance to support RSLs in applying to extend the current Right to Buy suspension beyond 2012; and
- revising existing guidance on landlords' continuous occupation discretionary powers, particularly as they affect ex-service personnel.
Our proposals for modernising regulation rest on two pillars:
- a Scottish Social Housing Charter that will set out the standards, levels of service and other outcomes that social landlords must deliver for their tenants; and
- a modernised Scottish Housing Regulator with statutory operational independence and the objective of safeguarding and promoting the interests of current and future tenants.
Relationship to the Government's purpose and national outcome
Social housing provides a secure and sustainable alternative to home ownership for over 600,000 households across the country. Our proposals would safeguard this valuable national asset for the use of current and future generations and ensure that it is managed and maintained efficiently for their benefit and that of taxpayers.
This would contribute towards the Government's purpose in the following ways:
- Reforming RTB would help to build strong, resilient and supportive communities by safeguarding and improving the supply of rented housing for those who need it. In particular, it would encourage councils to build new houses, so supporting our £50m initiative to encourage a new generation of house-building.
- Modernising regulation would help to provide public services that are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's needs. It would do this by focusing social landlords' efforts on meeting the priorities of tenants; continually improving performance and value; and commanding the confidence of public and private investors in the sector.
The consultation
The draft Bill contains provisions to end RTB on new social housing and create a modernised regulatory regime. The provisions are set out below to inform your responses to this consultation. We want to know whether you agree with what we are trying to achieve through them and also whether you think they will achieve what we claim for them. We will amend them to take account of your responses before introducing the Bill in the Scottish Parliament. These amendments will take account of your comments on our proposals for further reform of RTB, which are not included in the draft Bill at present.
Certain issues about private housing - both rented and owner-occupied - may also be worth addressing in primary legislation. These relate to:
- the policy implications of the Scottish Government Review of the Private Rented Sector, which was published on 24 March;
- the possibility of strengthening and clarifying the powers councils already have to deal with bad private-landlord practice; and
- matters that have emerged in preparing to implement local council powers in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 to deal with sub-standard private housing.
We are considering the possibility of covering these issues in the Bill and, during the summer, will consult relevant stakeholders separately on possible policy proposals. That consultation will help us to decide which, if any, of the proposals to include in the Bill. Some issues may be dealt with by guidance, for example, rather than primary legislation.
If we decide to include any of the proposals in the Bill, we will consult key stakeholders on drafting proposals before introducing the Bill.