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Foreword
The deepening economic downturn has shown the importance of social housing in providing families with a secure and sustainable alternative to home ownership. It also threatens to add to the already high levels of demand for that housing. So it is more important than ever that the social housing sector can thrive and meet the housing needs of existing and future tenants.
From the outset, this Government has worked to reinvigorate social housing. Firm Foundations, our consultation paper on the future of Scotland's housing, recognised that only communities with a proper mix of tenures can be genuinely sustainable. It included proposals for a reinvigorated social housing sector to be part of that mix.
We have made good progress in implementing these proposals and in responding to the impact of the economic downturn on our ambitions for social housing:
- We are investing a record £1.5 billion in affordable housing over three years, most of it targeted on social housing.
- We have brought forward £120 million from the affordable housing budget to speed up provision of affordable family homes, including social housing, and to support activity and employment in the construction industry.
- We have broken with the policies of previous administrations by providing £50 million to kick-start a new generation of council-house building.
- Last December, we published proposals to increase the supply of new social housing through investment reform.
In this consultation paper, we explain how we plan to make further progress through introducing in the Scottish Parliament a Housing (Scotland) Bill that will secure the future of social housing by:
- safeguarding social housing for the use of future generations through reforms to the Right to Buy social housing; and
- improving value for tenants and taxpayers by modernising the regulation of social housing.
We use the term 'social housing' throughout this paper. It is a widely recognised shorthand for the housing provided by councils and registered social landlords. But to many it has divisive undertones that are at odds with our vision of sustainable communities comprising a mix of tenures, all of which are valid and valued means of meeting housing need. To help reinvigorate social housing, we want to find a new term for it, and as part of this consultation we invite suggestions for such a term.
In line with the Concordat between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA), we have discussed with COSLA the proposals in this paper.
In recent months, we have shown our determination to use in full the powers of the Scottish Government to tackle the immediate problems arising from the current difficult economic climate. In bringing forward a draft Housing Bill now, we are showing our commitment to the future of social housing and acting on our belief that a reinvigorated sector will be able to serve the needs of families well beyond the current crisis. We are also considering whether to include in the Bill a range of provisions about private housing. We will consult stakeholders separately on these during the summer before deciding whether it is appropriate to include them in the Bill.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
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