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FOREWORD
Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
Improving the supply of new homes and increasing peoples' choices were at the heart of last year's discussion paper Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland.
In Firm Foundations, we highlighted the continuing positive role for social housing and the registered social landlord ( RSL) sector, while also making the case for change in the way we support investment by RSLs in new affordable housing.
If we are to meet our ambitious targets for increased supply and improved choice then new approaches are required so that our investment can go further and we can secure better value for tenants and taxpayers.
Since the publication of Firm Foundations, the financial and economic situation has changed considerably and the impact on Scotland's housing industry has been of major concern. However, our overall vision has not altered. The "credit crunch" and its impacts will not deflect us from our long-term goal of increasing the supply of new housing, nor from the vital task of promoting higher energy efficiency standards in new housing, in support of our targets for reducing emissions. In recent months we have taken steps to help alleviate some of the impacts of the downturn in the housing market through a package of measures which includes agreeing with our local authority partners to bring forward £100 million of our planned investment. We consider that our proposals for investment reform will place the social housing sector on the right footing for future recovery and enable it to secure maximum value and economic benefit from new developments.
Our proposals reflect and build on the maturity and experience of RSLs in Scotland. They offer considerable new freedoms in the delivery of investment programmes for those RSLs appointed as Lead Developers. And the proposals recognise the significant progress already made by a number of RSLs, and local authorities, who have been striving together to secure greater efficiencies and to improve investment and procurement processes in the delivery of new affordable housing.
I promised that we would listen to stakeholders as we developed our proposals for investment reform.
Over the past several months, and in particular through a series of seminars in August and September, we have debated investment reform with stakeholders. This consultation document reflects these discussions and now sets out our considered proposals for radical and far-reaching reform, based on a commitment to long term funding for a number of Lead Developers through which we intend to channel the majority of our future investment. We will look to Lead Developers for a more specialist and skilled approach to managing assets, finances and development for the benefit of the sector as a whole.
In line with the Concordat, the detail of this consultation has been discussed with COSLA. Following the consultation we will have further discussions with COSLA, as well as with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.
I know I am not alone in my conviction that good housing, of all tenures, should be at the heart of Scotland's future and I hope that the proposals we have set out in this consultation will generate thought, and innovation, in meeting our shared challenge.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
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