This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Fife housing
15/01/2007
Ministers have accepted the case put by Fife Council for more parts of its local authority area to be designated as 'pressured' for the purposes of the Right to Buy.
This follows a successful application from the Council to designate areas of St Andrews and the East Neuk in May 2006 and means that some tenants within the designated areas will have the Right to Buy their rented council or housing association house suspended for five years.
Deputy Communities Minister Des McNulty said:
"Fife Council is the first authority to make a second application to suspend the Right to Buy - this time in the west of its area.
"Once again, it has presented a convincing case, and has provided compelling evidence of substantial pressures on affordable housing in the designated areas.
"But this designation does not signal any change in our Right to Buy policy. The pressured area option has been available to local authorities for five years, and five other councils have successfully applied. In addition, a sixth council - Perth and Kinross - has applied and its application is currently being considered.
"This shows that local authorities are looking carefully at affordable housing in their own areas and deciding that the pressured area option can help them."
The Pressured Area option was introduced in 2001, to assist councils facing particular local pressures. It helps councils to continue to offer homes for affordable rent to people on low incomes in areas where the Right to Buy could otherwise lead to serious shortages.
The suspension of Right to Buy only applies to tenancies which have commenced since 30 September 2002.
The pressured area designation lasts for five years and applies to the following 13 villages in West Fife:
- Aberdour
- Charlestown
- Crossford
- Culross
- Dalgety Bay
- Halbeath
- Kingseat
- Limekilns
- North Queensferry
- Rosyth
- Saline
- Torryburn
- Townhill
Background:
Pressured area designations have been approved in the following council areas:
- East Renfrewshire (Eastwood area) on October 7, 2005
- Highland (all areas excluding Caithness, Sutherland and some estates in Inverness and Fort William) on November 15, 2005
- South Ayrshire (29 letting areas comprising much of Prestwick and Ayr, and rural settlements, with 14 other areas not approved) on February 10, 2006)
- Moray (Elgin, Lossiemouth and Forres rural) on March 7, 2006
- Fife (St Andrews and the East Neuk) on May 8, 2006
- Dumfries and Galloway (69 villages of population less than 400 across the local authority area) on June 5, 2006
Right to Buy changed significantly when the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 reduced and capped discount levels, extended the qualifying period to five years and introduced the pressured area mechanism.