This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Affordable housing for rural areas
09/03/2004
Initial allocations of £8 million from a special £10
million fund for affordable housing in rural communities
were announced today.
At the Chartered Institute of Housing's annual
conference in Aberdeen, Deputy Communities Minister Mary
Mulligan said:
"This Executive takes the issue of affordable housing
extremely seriously. We have embarked on an ambitious
programme of consultation with organisations across
Scotland with a shared interest in housing provision.
"This consultation is taking us closer to an
understanding of the issue of affordable housing, and as a
result, we are considering a range of options.
"These include possible changes to the planning system
to encourage building of more affordable homes, options to
increase the land supply for houses and ways of getting
better value from the public funds being invested in this
area of work.
"In the meantime, we are backing up our commitment with
resources to make sure that our rural communities in
particular can benefit. Today I am pleased to announce some
of the details of the Special Rural Programme.
"This programme will make a real difference to many
small rural communities. For example, it will provide 20
new houses on the Isle of Gigha, 14 new houses in Portsoy
in Aberdeenshire and 16 houses on the Isle of Arran. The
benefits of this programme will be felt in the short term,
while the long-term benefits of our investment will be felt
for years to come."
In her speech to the conference, Ms Mulligan also
stressed the need to tailor housing solutions to local
conditions.
She commented on the need for the Executive and all
agencies with an interest in housing to reach a shared
understanding of supply and demand issues in different
parts of Scotland and to move away from the simplistic
debate about numbers of houses.
She concluded:
"Finding the best housing solutions for Scotland's
communities challenges us all. It is only through working
collectively that we will be able to ensure that affordable
housing of the right size, tenure, type and quality is
provided in all the right places. We are listening
carefully to what stakeholders have to say and we are
committed to addressing any imbalances in the future."
The Deputy Minister was announcing initial allocations
from the £10 million Special Rural Programme which was
announced by Margaret Curran, Minister for Communities in
October 2003.
The following details the number of houses for each
area.
HIGHLAND COUNCIL
- Lochinver (Sutherland) - 8 houses
- Borrodale (Lochalsh and Skye)- 1 house
- Carbost (Lochalsh and Skye) - 1 house
- Nairn -1 house
- Dingwall (Ross and Cromarty) - 2 houses
- Ratagan (Wester Ross) - 4 houses
- Poolewe (Ross and Cromarty) -6 houses
- Glenmore (Badenoch and Strathspey - 2 houses
ORKNEY COUNCIL
SHETLAND COUNCIL
ABERDEENSHIRE COUNCIL
- Portsoy - 14 houses
- Kintore (Inverurie) - 20 houses
PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL
- Struan by Blair Atholl - 6 houses
- Ballinluig -15 houses
BORDERS COUNCIL
- Swinton (Berwickshire) - 2 houses
STIRLING COUNCIL
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL
ARGYLL AND BUTE
- Isle of Gigha - 20 houses
For more information about the allocations, contact
Communities Scotland on 0131 479 5170.