In addition to the changes coming from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, there are a number of other policy influences on the role of Care and Repair. These include:
- Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG), which was introduced to increase the funding and activity for assistance in the private sector and to influence the type of activity being undertaken and the challenges for Care and Repair projects coming from the loss of ring fencing in 2010.
- Local housing strategies (LHS) which are required to show a clear understanding of the scale and nature of private housing sector concerns about the quality and suitability of housing for older and disabled people.
- Community care, which aims to enable vulnerable people to live in their own homes while recognising that housing, health and welfare legislation directly and indirectly affects how local authorities carry out their community care functions.
- Independent living - having choice and control over the assistance and/or equipment and adaptations needed to go about daily life; having equal access to housing, health, education and training, transport and mobility opportunities.
- Shifting the balance of care - improving the health of the people of Scotland by reducing inequalities and increasing the emphasis on health improvement, more continuous care, support in the community and preventative medicine - to enable more people to stay at home for longer, improving the quality of peoples lives and reducing the number of hospital and care home bed days.
- Demographic factors, such as the ageing population and rising numbers of single households. This make it more important to maximise use of existing private sector stock and help older people stay at home.
- Changes coming from the Concordat between the Scottish Government and local government which sets out the terms of a new relationship based on mutual respect and partnership with a shared commitment to achieve national and local priorities. It is for each local authority with their community planning partners to identify priorities and local outcomes that fit with the national outcomes and to make and deliver local strategies that will protect and enhance the built environment and benefit the communities in its area.