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HOMES FOR SCOTLAND'S PEOPLE: A Scottish Housing Policy Statement

SECTION 2 PEOPLE - EMPOWERING AND ASSISTING PEOPLE

OUR ACTIONS

WE HAVE HELPED ALMOST 90,000 HOUSEHOLDS INTO HOME OWNERSHIP SINCE 1999 THROUGH THE RIGHT TO BUY SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF NEW HOMES FOR LOW COST HOME OWNERSHIP.

WE HAVE MODERNISED THE RIGHT TO BUY SCHEME, SEEKING A BETTER BALANCE BETWEEN GIVING PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OWN THEIR OWN HOME AND MEETING THE NEEDS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES.

WE HAVE INTRODUCED THE SCOTTISH SECURE TENANCY, GIVING THOSE IN RENTED ACCOMMODATION SECURITY OF TENURE AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE THEIR LIVING ENVIRONMENT.

WE HAVE LEGISLATED TO HELP PEOPLE WITH MORTGAGE PAYMENT DIFFICULTIES AND OUR MORTGAGE TO RENT SCHEME HAS HELPED FAMILIES TO TACKLE THEIR HOUSING DIFFICULTIES WITHOUT LOSING THEIR HOME.

WE HAVE ESTABLISHED AND WORKED WITH A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY HOMELESSNESS TASK FORCE TO EXAMINE HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF HOMELESSNESS AND TO INFORM OUR POLICIES IN THIS AREA.

WE HAVE PUT PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION IN PLACE TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN TACKLING THE PLIGHT OF HOMELESS PEOPLE.

WE HAVE LEGISLATED TO ADDRESS ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND ITS IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES.

WE HAVE INTRODUCED LICENSING OF HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION, GIVING ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR TENANTS IN THESE PROPERTIES.

WE ARE TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION BY HELPING OVER 80,000 PEOPLE EACH YEAR TO ENJOY INDEPENDENT LIVING THROUGH OUR SUPPORTING PEOPLE PROGRAMME.

WE HAVE INSULATED OVER 200,000 HOMES THROUGH OUR WARM DEAL PROGRAMME.

WE HAVE INSTALLED AROUND 45,000 CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST FUEL POVERTY.

OUR PLANS

WE WILL INTRODUCE AN INNOVATIVE "HOMESTAKE" SCHEME BASED ON SHARED EQUITY TO ENABLE FIRST-TIME BUYERS TO GET A FOOT ON THE PROPERTY LADDER.

WE WILL REPORT TO PARLIAMENT IN 2006 ON THE EFFECT OF THE MODERNISED RIGHT TO BUY IN THE LIGHT OF EXPERIENCE.

WE WILL ENSURE THAT LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE ABLE TO OFFER ALL UNINTENTIONALLY HOMELESS PEOPLE THE RIGHT TO PERMANENT ACCOMMODATION BY 2012, WE WILL WORK WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO DELIVER THIS CHALLENGING TARGET AS PART OF OUR WIDER STRATEGY FOR THE SUPPLY OF HOUSING.

WE WILL SPEND £1.2 BILLION ON OUR SUPPORTING PEOPLE PROGRAMME OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS TO HELP VULNERABLE PEOPLE LIVE INDEPENDENTLY IN THE COMMUNITY.

WE WILL ERADICATE FUEL POVERTY, AS FAR AS REASONABLY PRACTICABLE, BY 2016.

WE WILL EXTEND THE CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAMME TO LOW-INCOME PENSIONERS.

WE WILL EXAMINE THE MERITS OF CHOICE-BASED LETTINGS WHILE SIMPLIFYING AND MAXIMISING ACCESS TO SOCIAL RENTED HOUSING THROUGH COMMON HOUSING REGISTERS.

OUR APPROACH

2 .1 Our housing policy must contribute to lifting people out of poverty and into employment. We need an integrated policy which is not just about the provision of accommodation but ensures that people's wider needs are also met. We know for instance that giving someone a house may not be enough to prevent future homelessness. Research shows that homelessness is not just linked to housing market affordability but also to unemployment and the transition from institutions (prisons, armed forces, hospitals, care) into independent living in the community. An individual's own background can also have a major impact. Such factors must be taken into account in considering the provision of housing more generally.

2 .2 We need to ensure that access to services and appropriate support are considered alongside the provision of accommodation. Support services focusing on disruptive behaviour, for instance, can assist people to live successfully alongside their neighbours. We must support people to overcome the issues which may threaten their

ability to live independently and fulfil their obligations in respect of their accommodation.

2 .3 This requires a multi-faceted approach such as that adopted in relation to homelessness, where we worked with representatives from a range of sectors through the Homelessness Task Force and insisted upon a partnership approach throughout local communities. The Task Force's final report reflected this approach and we are taking forward its recommendations in relation to housing policy, benefits issues, preventing homelessness amongst high-risk groups, improving access to health and employment services alongside the necessary legislative changes.

2 .4 However, the accommodation element remains crucial. We cannot solve homelessness, regenerate deprived neighbourhoods or improve the quality of life of Scotland's citizens without affordable homes, in the correct locations, with access to local services. A broad range of provision is essential if we are to meet the diverse needs and expectations of our population.

HOME OWNERSHIP

2 .5 Home ownership is at record levels in Scotland. The shift towards home ownership over the last 20 years has largely been due to the success of the Right to Buy scheme for tenants of social rented housing. Since its introduction in 1980, more than 400,000 householders have taken advantage of the opportunity to buy their homes.

First-Time Buyers

2 .6 More people want the opportunity to own their home. Focus group research which we commissioned last year highlighted that most people would prefer to own their own home if they could. However, more people who would traditionally have been first-time buyers now find themselves priced out of particular local markets. As our analysis has confirmed, many first-time buyers are having to increase the size of their deposits. Others are being deterred altogether with the number of first-time buyers having fallen over the past two years. Affordability has become a particular problem in areas of Scotland where the economy is more buoyant and growth in the overall number of households is relatively high.

2 .7 A stable economy and a well-functioning housing market are the keys to making housing more affordable. We will outline later in this statement the new measures we will take to support the efficient operation of the housing market. However, the recent trends showing worsening affordability in particular markets mean that further action is needed if we are to give more people the opportunity of home ownership, providing they can sustain the commitments that go with it.

2 .8 We already operate a range of schemes providing new low-cost homes for first-time buyers and others aspiring to ownership. These take the form of:

• shared ownership where the owner purchases part of the dwelling and makes an occupancy payment to a Registered Social Landlord to obtain exclusive occupancy of the property.
• discounted low-cost sale in high value areas through direct grant to private developers.
• home ownership grants to individuals in rural areas.

2 .9 However, we recognise the pressing need both to expand investment and to introduce new ways of giving more people the opportunity of home ownership. We will therefore, as set out in para 3.29, invest in a major expansion of low-cost home ownership - nearly 5,000 homes under low-cost home ownership schemes by 2008 to help meet the ownership aspirations of first-time buyers and others on modest incomes.

2 .10 Under the expanded programme for low-cost home ownership, in the coming year we will introduce an innovative "Homestake" scheme based on shared equity. This will enable first-time buyers and others on modest incomes aspiring to ownership to enter the property market through buying a majority stake (i.e. a share of the equity) in a home which would otherwise be unaffordable to them.

2 .11 We have consulted on a range of shared equity models to match a range of individual circumstances and considered how they can be made attractive and financially sound both to householder and to housing provider. Communities Scotland has published separately our response to these consultations.

2 .12 The new "Homestake" scheme will be targeted at people who aspire to be home owners but whose incomes and resources are insufficient to meet their needs because of local housing market prices. A key target group will be first-time buyers. However, the scheme is also designed to assist disabled persons, older people, people in the rented sectors who wish to move into home ownership, and existing home owners whose homes are scheduled for demolition. "Homestake" will:

• enable Registered Social Landlords to develop new properties for sale on a shared equity basis and to purchase properties at an appropriate discount from private developers for onward sale to shared-equity purchasers.
• support low-income households who wish to purchase property for sale on the open market in pressured markets.
• enable tenants who currently live in social rented housing in pressured markets to purchase property on the open market, releasing properties to waiting list applicants who are in acute housing need, whilst assisting tenants to move into owner occupation.
• help existing owner occupiers whose homes are scheduled for demolition to access a new home for ownership on a shared equity basis.
• deliver at least 1,000 new homes per annum within three years.

2 .13 We have found little evidence that the availability of affordable housing is acting as a constraint to the recruitment and retention of labour in Scotland, in the way it has in England - especially in the South East of England. We have, however, commissioned further research on the relationship between housing supply and the labour market to examine which occupations and employers may be particularly affected by shortages of affordable housing. We will use this research, which is expected to report at the end of the year, to establish whether more specific support, beyond our range of new low-cost home ownership measures, is required for particular categories of essential workers.

Right to Buy

2 .14 The Right to Buy has proved to be very popular with tenants and has a long record of success in helping council tenants to buy their own homes - around 370,000 have bought their home since 1980. A substantial number of housing association and Scottish Homes tenants - around 30,000 - have also been assisted in this way.

2 .15 The Right to Buy has enabled people to take control over their housing choices and fulfil their aspiration to home ownership. It has given people an ownership stake in their community, helping to create more stable mixed-tenure communities. In many areas it has, in combination with public investment in area regeneration, helped address the physical decline of housing stock and neighbourhoods. Subsequent sales of former Right to Buy properties have also, in many areas, fulfilled the housing needs of first-time buyers - well over half of such properties have been purchased on re-sale by first-time buyers.

2 .16 However, we have recognised that the Right to Buy can aggravate affordable housing shortfalls in areas of housing pressure. That is why in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 we modernised the Right to Buy to provide a better balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the community. We have:

• extended the qualifying period and reduced the discounts.
• introduced a mechanism for designating pressured areas. This means that local authorities can apply to suspend the Right to Buy for new tenants in specific areas - a measure which a number of local authorities are actively considering.
• recognised the concerns of non-charitable housing associations about opening up the Right to Buy to their tenants. We suspended the Right to Buy for tenants of these associations until 2012 and said that they can, nearer that time, apply for an extension of the suspension if they consider it necessary.

2 .17 In the Housing Act 2001 a requirement was also introduced to report to Parliament on the effect of the Right to Buy by September 2006. This is to allow proper consideration of the operation of the scheme in the light of the significant changes introduced through the Act. Our report to Parliament will cover the effect of the Right to Buy on the nature and condition of the housing stock, people's housing needs, and the demand for, and availability of, housing.

2 .18 We have no plans to change the Right to Buy, which will continue with the safeguards we introduced through the 2001 legislation. However, we fully recognise that the Right to Buy has been, and remains, a controversial policy and we are aware of the arguments for change. Our report to Parliament in 2006 will provide the evidence base against which we will consider the case for any future adjustments to the policy.

2 .19 We have already consulted with interested parties on the structure of the report. We will engage them further to ensure the report covers issues of concern to them. We will establish an Advisory Group shortly which will include representatives from key stakeholders and academics to advise on the preparation of the report over the course of this year.

Mortgage to Rent

2 .20 We recognise that some people get into difficulties with mortgage payments and can be at risk of losing their homes. We are determined to prevent homelessness whenever possible and have recently published our financial inclusion action plan ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/fiaptp-00.asp ) which sets out the action being taken and required in the future to help people avoid and manage debt. We have legislated through the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 to enable a person whose lender is seeking possession through the courts to ask the sheriff to defer a decision to allow them to sort out their finances. We have also introduced a Mortgage to Rent scheme which funds a social landlord to buy a person's house and let it to them as an affordable home if the lender is seeking possession through the courts and there are good reasons for keeping the family in the same home.

EMPOWERING TENANTS

2 .21 While we want to encourage home-ownership where it is a sensible option, we recognise that renting a home is as valid a choice as home-ownership. We want to ensure that those in rented accommodation enjoy security of tenure and have the opportunity to influence their living environment.

• We have legislated to ensure that virtually all tenants in the social rented sector are granted a Scottish Secure Tenancy. This common approach makes things simpler to understand for tenants and provides greater certainty if they transfer between different types of landlord, particularly for those tenants transferring to community ownership. The new tenancy has also given tenants enhanced rights of succession - two rounds of succession are allowed, including succession by same sex partners and carers. This provides reassurance that relatives, partners and carers who have given up their own home will not be left homeless by the death of the tenant. We have also introduced new statutory rights to joint tenancies and to exchanges, which were previously at the discretion of the landlord. Tenants now have a right to enter into a joint tenancy and to exchange their home with another Scottish secure tenant provided the landlord has no reasonable objection.
• It is important that tenants have a sense of involvement in the decisions that affect their quality of life. Experience has shown that people are more likely to care about their communities if they have the opportunity to participate in how they are shaped. We have introduced a statutory framework for tenant participation which gives tenants new rights to access information and to be consulted. All local authorities and registered social landlords now have tenant participation strategies in place and are obliged to maintain a register of tenant organisations, with whom consultation is obligatory. Several hundred tenant organisations are now registered - clear evidence of a healthy and growing tenants' movement across Scotland.
• We are currently consulting on regulations which will set out standard terms of occupancy for people living in hostels and other insecure accommodation. These regulations will give residents more stability through the provision of a minimum period of notice.
• The arrangements that we are making to help tenants ensure that private landlords meet repairing obligations (see para 4.43) will empower tenants to take greater responsibility for their housing conditions.

2 .22 People who own their mobile home often let the stance from a site operator. This arrangement can put the mobile home owner in a difficult position. We intend to improve the current statutory controls through the Housing Bill in order to give better protection to mobile home owners and will also seek powers to make other improvements in the arrangements for mobile homes.

ACCESSIBILITY AND CHOICE

2 .23 We are keen to promote accessibility and choice within the housing system. As well as helping people who wish to buy their own home, we want to simplify and maximise access to social housing for people who wish to rent. We also wish in the longer term to work towards offering greater flexibility and choice to those who rent.

2 .24 We have:

• legislated to ensure that anyone over the age of 16 is eligible to join a housing list operated by a social landlord.
• introduced a clear policy on the development of Common Housing Registers (CHRs) within legislative and regulatory frameworks. Operation of a CHR within an area means people looking to the social rented sector for housing need only complete a single application form to be considered by all the landlords in that area, whether as a first-time applicant, or as a tenant wishing to change homes.
• supported delivery of CHRs with a £3 million funding programme for local authorities and a national support team which is working with social landlords within each local authority area to develop CHRs. CHRs are now operating in four areas - Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Perth & Kinross, and Renfrewshire - and it is expected that more will be up and running by the end of the current funding programme in March 2006. We remain committed to the CHR approach as a way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing.
• engaged in major UK research into the longer-term impact of choice-based lettings systems. The research will include examination of two Scottish case studies - the City of Edinburgh Council's "EH-Key to Choice" and Berwickshire Housing Association's "Homehunt" scheme - and is expected to report in early 2006, with interim results this year.

2 .25 We recognise that there are a range of emerging issues with significant impacts on allocations policy and practice. These include the widening interest in choice-based lettings approaches in Scotland, the relationship of choice-based lettings approaches to Common Housing Registers, the operation of current legislation on allocations (especially around 'reasonable preference' ¹), how best to meet the twin objectives of giving priority to those most in need (including homeless people) and the development of balanced communities and the potential implications of UK-wide Housing Benefit reform, which may impact on how social housing is allocated in the future.

2 .26 We will therefore consider as a matter of high priority:

• the development of specific guidance for any landlords wishing to implement choice-based lettings to ensure any such scheme is introduced effectively and consistently within the overall context of delivering CHRs. We envisage such guidance would provide advice on suitable models to achieve this.
• the collection of wider evidence on the operation of allocations policies - particularly the relationship between allocations, tenancy sustainment and area regeneration - to inform whether more general guidance on allocations policy and practice is required in future.

Gypsies and Travellers

2 .27 We recognise the need to make suitable provision for Gypsies and Travellers, whose chosen lifestyle make them particularly prone to being excluded from conventional services. Surveys suggest that there are between 1,400 and 1,900 Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland living on sites or in encampments during the winter months; this figure rising up to 2,500 in summer. Local authorities are expected to address the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in their local housing strategies. We expect strategies to make the provision and maintenance of sites, which reflect the preferences and aspirations of Gypsies and Travellers, part of mainstream housing provision. Adequate site provision can help to address the use of unauthorised encampments.

TACKLING HOMELESSNESS

2 .28 Homelessness is not just about people sleeping on the streets. In fact, rough sleeping is a small and decreasing part of the whole problem. Homeless people are people who sleep on friends' sofas, or who stay in hostels or other types of temporary accommodation. If someone does not have anywhere reasonable to live, they should be regarded as homeless and assisted accordingly.

2 .29 The number of people applying for assistance has increased in the past few years, due to our ambitious legislation which gives homeless people more rights, and hence more incentive to apply to their local authority as homeless. The rise in the number of people applying since 2001-02 is due to an increase in the number of single people applying. These are the people primarily affected by the new legislation who would not have had any rights to accommodation before the 2001 Housing Act.

2 .30 But homelessness is not just about the lack of a roof. It is a complex phenomenon - the highest incidence of homelessness occurs in Glasgow which also has a large amount of vacant social housing. People become homeless for all sorts of reasons, and in order to prevent and alleviate homelessness we need a variety of support mechanisms to tackle the root causes, such as unemployment, family breakdown, debt problems or substance misuse. We also need to ensure that the services work together, taking a people-centred approach to dealing with complex issues which may face any homeless household.

2 .31 Preventing and tackling homelessness in Scotland is a priority for us. Our vision is simple to state but very challenging to put into practice. We want every unintentionally homeless person to have a right to a permanent home - and we have set a target for this to be achieved by 2012. We have already made legislative changes which put Scotland at the forefront of Europe in terms of responding to the needs of homeless people.

• Every homeless household in Scotland is entitled to a minimum of temporary accommodation, alongside advice and assistance to help them find a permanent home.
• Each local authority must work with other landlords and service providers to develop a homelessness strategy for their area - based on a comprehensive assessment of the current situation.
• We have set the legislative framework to provide permanent homes for all homeless people, to ensure that an individual has freedom of choice over where to apply as homeless and to provide accommodation and support for those who are assessed as intentionally homeless. We are working with local authorities and other partners to ensure that these changes are implemented effectively.
• We have provided funding for a range of services supporting homeless people to develop their skills and qualifications and to access the labour market. We have also supported Health Boards to work with partners to ensure an improved service for homeless people.
• Accommodation and support services for rough sleepers and those at risk of rough sleeping have been put in place throughout Scotland and significant progress has been made in decommissioning the large outdated homeless hostels in Glasgow and other cities.

2 .32 We recognise that meeting our 2012 target poses a significant challenge but it is one we are determined to achieve. We will work with local authorities to assess the likely demand for and supply of housing in light of our commitment. This will take account of local housing strategies and homelessness strategies (see para 3.42). In consultation with local authorities, we will prepare a statement by the end of 2005 setting out how the 2012 target is to be met.

RESPONSIBILITIES

2 .33 Owners, tenants and landlords have a range of responsibilities in relation to the housing they own or occupy.

Repairs and Maintenance

2 .34 We have emphasised the individual responsibility of owners to repair and maintain their houses, while recognising the strategic responsibility of local authorities to oversee housing quality, by intervening or providing support as appropriate. In a later section this statement will set out the variety of measures that we are introducing to ensure that Scotland's housing stock is well maintained - new powers in relation to dealing with disrepair, information on condition for house buyers and the Private Rented Housing Panel which are proposed in the new Housing Bill, funding available through the Private Sector Housing Grant, the new 'scheme of assistance' approach and the new tenement management scheme. It is vital that physical maintenance of property is taken seriously - for the sake of current residents but also to ensure that future generations are well catered for.

Behaviour

2 .35 Everyone has a responsibility to respect both their property and that of others with whom they share their community and a right to live free from fear or harassment. Where anti-social behaviour is involved, the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 will give police and local authorities extra powers to deal with it head on. While there are some housing management tools which do not apply to owner occupiers and private tenants, most of the new measures available are not tenure specific.

2 .36 Private landlords have a particular responsibility to address anti-social behaviour
in their property. Where they fail to do so, local authorities will be able to use anti-social behaviour notice powers - and in extreme cases to assume direct management control of properties - to enforce a resolution, alongside any action they may take directly against the anti-social person.

2 .37 These are significant and far-reaching changes which reflect a growing determination to prevent the actions of a few impacting upon the well-being of many more. It is important to recognise that the primary strategic responsibility for dealing with anti-social behaviour lies with local authorities and the police; and the 2004
Act places a duty on them jointly to draw up strategies for tackling anti-social behaviour in their areas, in consultation with other agencies, RSLs and community groups. Over 2004-06, we will invest £95 million in improving capacity at local level to prevent and treat anti-social behaviour in a variety of targeted ways, rather than just picking up the pieces afterwards.

Quality of Life for Private Sector Tenants

2 .38 Tenants and their landlords have rights and responsibilities set out in the contract they agree between them, underpinned by legislation in the Rent and Housing Acts. Either party can enforce their individual rights through the courts. In addition, we are introducing a package of measures which, through voluntary and compulsory regulation of landlords, are intended to raise standards.

2 .39 The bulk of the private rented sector provides satisfactory, properly managed housing. It is in landlords' interests to be able to show that they offer their tenants a quality product and so we are encouraging local voluntary accreditation schemes that will use this market incentive to raise standards. Each will operate as a partnership between a local authority and private landlords in its area. We are funding four pilots to test and develop the guidance and core standards that we have produced, covering all aspects of property and management quality.

2 .40 Compulsory private landlord registration by local authorities is being introduced under the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004, to knit together other regulatory measures and to assure all private tenants of registered houses that the landlord/agent is a fit and proper person to be letting houses. We are working on the detailed design of registration, to introduce a light-touch scheme in November 2005 which will minimise the bureaucracy and cost involved while making sure that local authorities have a tool to deal with the few errant landlords. We believe that we can achieve a scheme which will assure tenants of sound letting standards while avoiding a significant impact on landlords or rents.

2 .41 While registration provides the basic assurance of a fit and proper landlord, the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) gives additional protection for tenants of higher risk properties more likely to be occupied by vulnerable or needy people. HMOs provide an important supply of housing that is particularly attractive to some groups of people, such as students, transient workers, and those who require support in a homely setting. Legislation that we introduced in 2000 requires HMOs to be licensed by local authorities. Increasing numbers of HMOs are now licensed, confirming that they meet good physical standards of health and safety and are well managed. We intend to re-enact licensing of HMOs to overcome the limitations of its current structure under civic government legislation, which was not designed specifically for the licensing of houses. Re-enactment will allow us to draw upon our experience of the current system and will, for example, allow us to set national minimum standards.

2 .42 The work of the Housing Improvement Task Force (see para 4.29) showed that very often tenants and landlords are unaware of their rights and responsibilities, and in particular of legal requirements that apply whatever the contract between the parties might say. We have therefore established a website at www.betterrentingscotland.com which summarises all the rights and responsibilities for those involved in letting houses in the private sector and provides links to more detailed information and to relevant organisations. Over the past year we have been running a publicity campaign to raise awareness about letting, linked to the website and complementing local publicity by local authorities.

Insurance

2 .43 We recognise the potentially serious consequences for people who do not have home contents insurance. Over 40% of tenants in the social rented sector do not, exposing themselves to risk in the event of flooding, fire or theft. This compares to only 5% of owner-occupiers who have not insured their home contents.

2 .44 We support the provision of home contents insurance schemes in the social rented sector and are working with COSLA and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) to ensure tenants have access to good quality insurance services at reasonable cost. Although we cannot make people take out insurance, by setting up and promoting landlord operated schemes we can make it easier for people to protect themselves against material losses and reduce their vulnerability to financial exclusion.

2 .45 In 2003-04 we provided £400,000 to local authorities and the SFHA to help promote their insurance schemes. Schemes operate in 28 of the 32 local authority areas and our funding has helped to increase the reported take-up levels. At least 80,000 tenants now have access to house contents insurance who might not have had otherwise but we will continue to work with COSLA and SFHA to identify and share good practice in encouraging provision, to explore innovative ways to promote insurance and to encourage further take-up.

PROVIDING SUPPORT AND ADVICE

2 .46 As has been acknowledged, providing a home is about more than providing a house - we need to look beyond the bricks and mortar and consider the support which many people require in order to live independently or to help them exercise choice. In some cases there is also a need to provide ongoing support to ensure that their accommodation can be sustained.

2 .47 This support can come in a variety of forms and is needed for a variety of reasons. It is particularly striking that a disproportionate number of 16-24 year olds have applied as homeless. This would suggest that there may be issues around the transition to independent living that must be dealt with. We are taking this forward through the Supporting People programme (see para 2.50), which recognises the needs of vulnerable young people moving to their first tenancies, but also through the provision of basic advice on housing and living skills in schools, tackling financial exclusion and encouraging local authorities to address youth homelessness in their homelessness strategies. We are particularly focused on improving outcomes for young people leaving care and have legislated to ensure that, prior to their discharge, there is a full assessment of the most appropriate accommodation to meet their needs and a plan to secure it.

2 .48 Older people too have specific housing needs and significant changes are taking place in meeting them. The variety and flexibility of sheltered housing services provided under Supporting People have increased, providing a continuum of services ranging from light-touch support to increased security and integrated support and care services. These enable frail older people to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as they wish. All in all, around 62,000 older people throughout Scotland receive housing support services to enable them to remain in their own homes.

2 .49 People with disabilities also have particular needs and nearly 6,400 receive housing support services to allow them to continue to live independently in the community, rather than in institutional settings. As well as living in the community, we need to ensure that people with disabilities are fully included in the civic life of the community, for instance through participation in tenants' and residents' associations. By making housing options available, we will continue to support the closure or reprovisioning of hospitals and institutional care establishments as well as meeting the needs of people who wish to leave family homes to enjoy independent living.

Supporting People

2 .50 Supporting People is our main programme to help vulnerable people live independently in the community. It provides a wide range of housing support services tailored to individuals' needs.

2 .51 Funding for Supporting People in Scotland has risen sharply from about £50 million in 2001 to over £400 million in the present year. We will invest £1.2 billion in the programme over the next three years; double the level in England on a per capita basis. Over 80,000 people each year in Scotland currently benefit from our very significant investment - evidence of our commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable people and ensuring fair treatment for all our citizens.

2 .52 Supporting People seeks to put housing support services on a secure legal footing, with a systematic and strategic process for assessing need and provision locally. Strategic planning for these services is now linked to local housing strategies and other plans such as those for community care and health improvement. For the first time, services are subject to registration and inspection by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.

2 .53 Evidence indicates that significant benefits accrue to the individual, their families and the wider community. Quantifiable financial benefits arise principally from the continuation of independent living by older people, but have also been identified on the health and social services side and in tackling crime and homelessness.

2 .54 However, reviews of the programme confirm that there is scope for significant efficiency savings to enable public funds to be used more effectively. Wide variations exist in the unit costs and levels of service provided across Scotland with per capita funding ranging from £16 in one local authority to £235 in another. We concluded that 6% efficiency savings are possible and that some redistribution of resources across Scotland is essential to ensure that vulnerable people receive similar levels of service regardless of where they live.

2 .55 Every vulnerable individual has the right to expect quality housing support services. In future Supporting People will be funded on the basis of relative need. This will take into account the number of older people, homeless people and disabled people as well as levels of deprivation in the local area. We have listened carefully, however, to concerns providers expressed over the impact of this significant change and we have agreed to slow down the redistribution process to ensure that these funding changes are manageable locally.

2 .56 Supporting People plays a key role alongside social work and health funding in providing combined care packages for particularly vulnerable people and helping people move out of long-stay institutional care. It is essential, however, to focus not on the funding stream but on the client. For instance, some people require much more intensive support than that commonly funded by Supporting People, and it may be necessary to deal with a number of health-related issues in the first place in order to allow people to move into settled accommodation. In partnership with a wide range of stakeholders we will be considering how to ensure that the programme works as effectively as possible alongside other funding streams supporting similar client groups.

2 .57 The provision of intensive support has been central in tackling the most severe forms of homelessness. Our investment in dedicated support for people seen as being on the fringes of our society is helping those who might find it extremely difficult to survive otherwise. Not meeting such needs is likely to exacerbate the problem - to the detriment of the individual and the wider community. We recognise that it can be problematic for service providers when public opinion is often sceptical of the priority to be attached to re-housing and the provision of support in these circumstances. The Homelessness Monitoring Group is considering how there perceptions can be addressed.

2 .58 Support which enables people to access education, training or employment opportunities and to build social networks must also be recognised. This is crucial if people are to be lifted out of poverty and to be integrated successfully and permanently into the community. The needs of vulnerable individuals cannot be considered in isolation and it is only if we acknowledge this in our policies right across the spectrum that we will be able to maximise their effectiveness and have a lasting impact for individuals.

2 .59 Supporting People will remain a crucial plank in providing a housing system that supports a decent quality of life for everybody in society regardless of their circumstances. It will continue to be fundamental to our efforts to support a wide range of vulnerable people to live independently in their community in the same way that so many of us take for granted.

Fuel poverty

2 .60 In sustaining accommodation and tackling poverty, one particularly critical issue for the most vulnerable in our communities - and one which affects all tenures and all types of accommodation - is fuel poverty. It is not enough for people to have a home if they are unable to keep it warm. The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey showed that some 738,000 households in Scotland - about 35% of the total housing stock - lived in fuel poverty. That number fell to 286,000 by 2002, in part because of action we have taken: good progress, but not enough. We have committed ourselves to eradicating fuel poverty, as far as reasonably practicable, by 2016.

2 .61 Fuel poverty has three main causes: household energy inefficiency, income levels and the cost of fuel. Income levels, insofar as they are determined by taxation or benefits, are reserved to the UK Government. Fuel prices are set by the market, subject to regulation by OFGEM. So we have focused primarily on improving household energy efficiency, by providing insulation measures and energy advice; by installing and upgrading heating systems; and by driving up energy efficiency standards across the whole housing market.

2 .62 Our main fuel poverty programmes are the Warm Deal insulation programme and the Central Heating Programme.

• The Warm Deal, which provides a package of measures to those on income benefits, has so far insulated over 200,000 homes.
• The Central Heating Programme has installed around 45,000 systems in homes which did not have them, or where the existing system had broken down irreparably. We extended it in 2004 to those aged over 80 with partial or inefficient heating systems and we will extend it to low income pensioners.

2 .63 We will shortly be consulting on how best to continue this work when the current programmes end in 2006.

2 .64 As this statement records in Section 4, we are also seeking to mainstream energy efficiency improvements through building standards and the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, as part of our wider policy on improving the quality of Scotland's housing. Building standards revisions in 2002 contained higher energy efficiency requirements for newly built houses and for existing houses undergoing major renovation.
The Quality Standard contains an energy efficiency element which will help improve homes in the social rented sector by providing full insulation and heating wherever technically feasible. The Housing Bill includes a thermal efficiency element in the Tolerable Standard for the first time.

2 .65 However, fuel poverty depends very heavily on the price of fuel and energy prices are now rising after a long period of decline. About a third of the reduction in fuel poverty between 1996 and 2002 can be attributed to falls in fuel prices. But, by the same token, if incomes and household energy efficiency remain constant, every increase in fuel prices puts more households into fuel poverty. We cannot afford to become complacent about the progress achieved so far. That is why we recently called on the three largest fuel supply companies in Scotland to introduce a lower social tariff for people in receipt of Pension Credit, in order to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from the full impact of price rises. Addressing the prospect of rising fuel prices will be a key challenge for the design of our future policies.

Housing Advice and Information

2 .66 To make sure that people are able to exercise choice in an informed way, it is crucial that good quality housing and homelessness advice is freely available. Local authorities are legally required to ensure the provision of advice and information on housing and homelessness. We have issued guidance on what this should encompass and Communities Scotland's HomePoint service helps local authorities to meet this requirement. We have also established a website with information about letting in the private sector (see para 2.42).

2 .67 HomePoint published the Scottish National Standards for Housing Information and Advice and provide a range of supports to local authorities and voluntary sector advice providers to help them in implementing this quality model. HomePoint also facilitates a national training programme for housing advisers to achieve competence in housing law as defined in the Standards. An audit service which has been developed and tested allowing external verification of achievement of the Standards is being considered for national roll out from April 2006.

2 .68 People who need housing advice to prevent homelessness frequently also need other types of advice and so HomePoint is working with Citizens Advice Scotland and Money Advice Scotland to ensure complementary standards are met in the provision of money advice.

Dispute Resolution

2 .69 Our proposed Private Rented Housing Panel (see para 4.33) will encourage the resolution of difficulties between tenant and landlord over the obligation to keep rented property in good repair. There can be other issues, however, over which tenants and landlords can find themselves in dispute and, when sufficiently serious, these can require resolution in a sheriff court. We are aware of concerns about the dispute resolution process, but we need to establish the extent to which this is a major problem in Scotland. We will therefore commission research to review the evidence before determining whether the introduction of
a Scottish housing tribunal would be the most effective way to resolve such disputes.

FUEL POVERTY

The Scottish Executive's flagship Central Heating Programme meant the world to pensioner John Smith of South Queensferry. 69-year-old Mr Smith's home has benefited from full gas central heating and a range of other energy efficiency and safety measures installed free of charge thanks to the Central Heating Programme. The programme, aimed at Scotland's most vulnerable households, is well on track to install full central heating, for householders over 60 who have none, by 2006. "They say there is no such thing as something for nothing, but that isn't the case," says Mr Smith. "The free central heating installed in my house has made a great difference to me. My house is more comfortable and on the coldest winter days and nights I really notice the difference. I know thousands of pensioners like myself have taken advantage of the scheme and if there are any other homeowners, over 60 like myself, who are thinking about applying, then I thoroughly recommend it."

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