Deliver Affordable Homes
A secure and affordable home is a fundamental human need, an anchor that enables people and communities to thrive.
The current system too often disadvantages the most vulnerable in society, raising issues around equity, distribution, and ownership. Ultimately, the Housing Emergency requires a bold, national response to complex questions about what property – in a broad sense – is for, and which needs or uses are prioritised.
The Scottish Government’s overarching priority should be to increase the total housing stock, especially social housing, and to ramp up completions significantly.
Policy Proposals
Deliver 15,693 social and affordable homes per year.
Deliver the 15,693 social and affordable homes per year target outlined in recent research by SFHA, CIH, and Shelter Scotland. This requires an increase in the current projected ASHP budget and would cost at least £8.2 billion (and possibly up to £9.2 billion) in total over the course of the next parliament.
Resource and embed the Living Well Locally principle of NPF4 within the planning, design, and delivery of all housing.
Despite the importance of specific targets, it remains crucial that we build communities, not just homes, and that new developments are also seen as an opportunity to improve existing places. This requires fully implementing and resourcing the Living Well Locally policy of National Planning Framework 4, ensuring new homes are connected to growing spaces, public transport, health and education facilities.
Empower local communities to introduce a short-term let registrations cap or freeze in their area.
Introduce new legislation enabling local communities to propose a cap or freeze on short-term let registrations in their area. This approach recognises that issues around the overprovision of holiday accommodation and pressures this places on local housing needs can often be highly localised (i.e. an island, a town, a rural community, a neighbourhood). Although some Local Authorities have introduced control zones and have proactively consulted communities, this relies on Local Authorities having time, resources, and political will to engage communities directly. Additionally, control zones usually involve a planning application – which come to already overburdened planning authorities. A simple freeze or cap limits short term let license registrations more directly, while empowering communities to balance business and tourist needs with people’s fundamental right to adequate housing. Community councils would be best placed to propose such plans, which can also facilitate better dialogue and engagement between community councils and Local Authorities, helping communities shape the use of housing assets directly. For such a policy work in practice, new legislation will need to be introduced to enable Local Authorities to implement license caps or freezes, which could compliment the aforementioned control zones. A future freeze or a cap should not affect currently registered short term, and could be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
More Policies
- Make better use of existing social stock by funding rightsizing initiatives that support and fund tenants to move to smaller homes in their preferred areas or where it meets accessibility needs, as has been done in Glasgow. Although social homes offer people security for life, people’s needs and lives change over time. Finding proactive ways to help people do this is one way of maximising the use and value of social housing. This also has a way of regenerating communities, with families able to move into larger properties that are currently under-used.
- The Scottish Government should adopt a statutory definition of affordable housing to minimise potential misuse of the term. A review of the definition and its impact on housing conditions should take place regularly. This was a previous commitment in the Housing to 2040 Strategy. This definition should build on recent work conducted by the Housing Affordability Working Group, with rent and service charges no more than 30% of net monthly income, and a residual income that guarantees people are not pushed into poverty as a result of unaffordable housing.
- Local Housing Allowances (LHA) must be revised to account for current cost-of-living pressures and previous LHA rate freezes. As this is a reserved matter, we call on the Scottish Government to raise again – as a matter of urgency – the revision of LHA thresholds with UK Government. A 2023 study by the Chartered Institute of Housing suggests that just 8 percent of properties in the 2022-2023 financial year were classed as ‘affordable’ – in that there was no shortfall between LHA rates and advertised rents. These affordability issues are likely to persist as rates are frequently refrozen, often for years. LHA is also used to calculate Housing Benefit and the Universal Credit Housing Element, with inaccurate and outdated figures exacerbating wider inequalities in ways that are not always addressed by the benefits system. Re-establishing the 30th percentile – and maintaining this year-on-year – should be the minimum commitment; increasing this to the 50th percentile is likely to have a greater effect on reducing poverty.
- Commit more national funding to Town Centre Living, along with Buy Back and Acquisition schemes so that Local Authorities can increase social housing supply, especially where empty properties can be brought back into use. This can help reinvigorate existing places.
- Invest in and support Community Led Housing to deliver more affordable homes for Scotland’s communities most in need.
- Explore planning flexibilities for rural areas, islands, and dense town centres, which can face frustrating and specific challenges that delay the provision of new housing.
- The Open Market Shared Equity Scheme has the potential to offer access to the housing market, while ensuring that properties are used exclusively as residences. To improve its impact SURF recommends:
- A pilot in rural areas to explore flexible OMSE thresholds, safeguarding housing for local communities while meeting local housing needs. Many rural areas have average house prices that far exceed the median thresholds used in these areas, and the scheme therefore does not deliver equally across Scotland. Such a pilot could also be administered in partnership with local housing organisations such as development trusts or housing associations.
- SURF welcomes that social renters are seen as a priority group for the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, but this must be accompanied by targeted and funded outreach to outline the opportunity, eligibility, and to support them through the process. This should be done in collaboration with Housing Associations and Local Authorities, with funding provided.