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MAINTAINING HOUSES - PRESERVING HOMES: A REPORT ON RESPONSES TO THE CONSULTATION
CHAPTER FOUR AREA RENEWAL
4.1 The Housing Action Area approach has made significant inroads into the improvement of housing below the Tolerable Standard. However, with the fall in the number of houses below the Tolerable Standard, it is less likely that Tolerable Standard failures will be concentrated in one area. A Housing Action Area approach, which requires at least 50% of housing in an area to be below the Tolerable Standard, is not flexible enough to meet changing patterns of poor quality housing.
4.2 The Housing Improvement Task Force concluded that there needed to be significant changes to the powers available to local authorities to address housing quality problems on an area basis.
4.3 The main element of the proposed approach involves repealing the existing Housing Action Area powers and introducing a new power to allow local authorities to seek to declare more flexible and less narrowly defined Housing Renewal Areas where an area has:
a) Concentrations of houses that fail the Tolerable Standard
b) Concentrations of houses in a condition of serious disrepair
c) Concentrations of properties in a condition of disrepair, though not in serious disrepair, but which are likely to deteriorate rapidly or cause material damage to other properties or give rise to market failure or decline if nothing is done to repair them
d) Concentrations of properties in any combinations of conditions a) - c)
e) Areas where there is evidence of market failure or decline such that if action is not taken there is likely to be a detrimental impact on the stability of the local community or the condition and/or quality of a significant proportion of the housing stock in the area as a whole
4.4 The trigger for declaration of a Housing Renewal Area for a) to d) will be where 50% of properties in the area fall within these criteria (although it should remain open to Scottish Ministers to approve schemes with under 50% of houses meeting particular criteria if the local authority can make a case for doing so).
4.5 When a local authority is considering declaring a Housing Renewal Area:
- The declaration should emerge firmly out of its local housing strategy
- Affected households and businesses should be informed of the proposal and given the opportunity to comment
- The draft resolution, with comments and objections, will be the document on which the Scottish Executive will consider approving the proposal
- The Scottish Executive will have the option of holding a hearing in public prior to taking a view on the draft resolution, with the option to reject or amend the draft resolution
- After the response by the Scottish Executive, a final resolution should be adopted by the local authority, published and served on residents and interested parties with a date for it coming into force
- After declaration, there should be a formal process for making alterations to the action plan or for agreeing an extension of the period of the designation
4.6 Once a Housing Renewal Area is declared, local authorities will have powers to act to address the issues that led to the designation.
4.7 The consultation paper sought views on four aspects of the area renewal proposals:
- Do you agree with the repeal of powers to declare Housing Action Areas and their replacement with powers to declare Housing Renewal Areas?(Paragraph 56)
- Are the criteria for declaring a Housing Renewal Area the right ones? Should other criteria be included? (Paragraphs 56-57)
- Are the proposed procedures for designating Housing Renewal Areas appropriate?(Paragraphs 58-60)
- Are the proposed powers for local authorities following designation reasonable?(Paragraphs 61-62)
NEW POWERS TO DECLARE HOUSING RENEWAL AREAS
4.8 There was widespread agreement among respondents for the repeal of powers to declare Housing Action Areas and their replacement with powers to declare Housing Renewal Areas. Of those responding to this question, 92% are in agreement while only 5% disagreed.
4.9 The responses from COSLA as well as many individual local authorities saw the new proposal as a way of providing more flexibility to deal with area based disrepair. Many local authorities also welcomed the proposal that it should remain open to Scottish Ministers to approve schemes with under 50% of houses meeting particular criteria if the local authority can make a case for doing so.
4.10 Glasgow City Council made the point that, while there are still a significant number of sub-tolerable houses within the city and the Housing Action Area process is still relevant, no useful current power will be lost by the switch to Housing Renewal Areas while there should be a considerable gain in flexibility.
4.11 This view was echoed by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland which welcomes the much more flexible approach to dealing with area-based sub-standard housing.
4.12 In its response, the National Association of Estate Agents expressed concern that declaration will blacklist areas in terms of property sales:
"As soon as an area is proposed there will be an obligation of surveyors and solicitors to report this to prospective purchasers and this will make the property un-saleable until such time as the matter is resolved. Past experience with Housing Action Areas showed that this led to owners abandoning any further repairs causing the areas to deteriorate further prior to action being taken."
CRITERIA FOR DECLARATION
4.13 The majority of respondents (83%) agreed that the proposed criteria for declaring a Housing Renewal Area are the right ones (13% disagreed).
4.14 A number of the consultation responses from local authorities and COSLA emphasised the need for guidance on identifying and justifying market failure to ensure there is indisputable evidence for declaration on this basis.
4.15 There was also some concern over the arbitrary nature of the "50%" rule. COSLA, for example, said it was not a wholly helpful yardstick as an aid to area renewal in mixed tenure estates. Highland Council added that it would like to see flexibility in relation to the definition of "concentration" and the 50% criteria so it could tackle area problems in small, rural locations. One option might be to pilot the criteria, particularly in rural communities. The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) also stated that 50% is arbitrary and not demanding in aspirational terms. It would like to see a higher benchmark established.
4.16 The National Association of Estate Agents expressed concern about the designation of a whole area as a Housing Renewal Area on the basis that 50% of properties were in disrepair, though not in serious disrepair, even if they were likely to deteriorate rapidly.
4.17 North Lanarkshire Council stated it would be helpful to clarify whether a Housing Renewal Area can be designated for a very small area as local authorities may, on occasion, need to use the wider powers available in a Housing Renewal Area on a very small scale.
4.18 The consultation paper asked for views on whether other criteria should be included. Only 27 responses were received on this, with the largest number (14) stating that the "50%" criterion was too high.
PROCEDURES FOR DESIGNATION
4.19 Almost all respondents (90%) agreed that the proposed procedures for designating Housing Renewal Areas were appropriate. Only 8% disagreed.
4.20 The CML Scotland suggested that, in addition to the proposed procedures, notice should also be given to holders of a Standard Security in a proposed Housing Renewal Area so they can consider the impact on the value of their security and what action they should be taking as a result.
PROPOSED LOCAL AUTHORITY POWERS FOLLOWING DESIGNATION
4.21 Support for the proposed powers for local authorities following designation was high, with 92% of respondents agreeing that these were reasonable. Only 4% disagreed.
4.22 COSLA agreed with the proposed powers for local authorities apart from the reference in paragraph 61(f), "to improve the amenity or marketability of the building or meet some other specific objective of the action plan". COSLA argued that this should be removed as it is too open to interpretation and abuse.
4.23 COSLA also suggested that it might be helpful to include a power enabling Councils to impose or relax Local Plan development control criteria on the grounds that the proposed development is in a Housing Renewal Area and the development is necessary to meet Housing Renewal Area objectives.
4.24 The National Association of Estate Agents said it assumed there will be a right of appeal against these powers and that considerable justification would be needed where repair is not an issue for an individual building and it is being included to meet other objectives.
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
4.25 The majority of respondents (92%) agreed with the proposals to replace Housing Action Areas with Housing Renewal Areas. Many local authorities saw this as a way of providing greater flexibility in dealing with area based disrepair.
4.26 The criteria for declaration were agreed by 83% of respondents. There was some concern over the evidence needed to justify market failure, as well as the arbitrary nature of the "50%" rule, especially in mixed tenure estates and rural areas.
4.27 Almost all respondents (90%) agreed with the proposed procedures for designating Housing Renewal Areas. A similar proportion (92%) supported the proposed powers for local authorities following designation.
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