Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-24139

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Affordable Housing Supply Programme can be placed in special measures.

Question reference: S6W-24142

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its assumptions regarding the investment needed to deliver the 110,0000 affordable housing supply target.

The Scottish Government have already confirmed plans to bring forward the review of the target from 2026-27 to 2024, with a focus on the timeline for delivery of 110,000 affordable homes. And in parallel we will accelerate work with the financial community in Scotland and elsewhere to boost private sector investment in Scotland year on year, and help deliver more homes. This work will help to inform the assessment of the investment required to deliver the 110,000 affordable homes target.

Question reference: S6W-24141

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to start publishing monthly Affordable Housing Supply Programme (a) finance, (b) approval, (c) starts and (d) completions statistics.

The Scottish Government has no plans to start publishing monthly Affordable Housing Supply Programme finance, approval, starts or completion statistics.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes financial information at Autumn and Spring Budget revisions, Provisional Outturn, Final Outturn and Final Accounts. When annual financial year expenditure is concluded and finalised we publish an Affordable Housing Supply Programme annual out-turn report. This reports actual spend compared to original resource planning assumptions alongside wider programme performance information.

The Scottish Government publishes figures relating to the supply of affordable homes across Scotland, on a quarterly basis, which can be found online at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/

Question reference: S6W-24140

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current underspend is in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Question reference: S6W-24138

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Affordable Housing Supply Programme is fit for purpose, in light of its reported plans to halve the budget in real terms.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme is fit for purpose. The UK Government did not inflation-proof their Capital Budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real terms fall in our UK capital funding between 2023-24 and 2027-28. That means that we cannot deliver on all our capital projects. One of the most difficult choices we have taken is to reduce the funding for our Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Question reference: S6W-24521

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6T-01731

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to bring more homes back into use, in light of reports that the stock of empty homes is valued at an estimated £3.4 billion.

Question reference: S6W-23847

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has undertaken to consider the potential effect of the expiry of restrictions on evictions, in relation to (a) eviction rates and (b) any increase in (i) staffing costs, (ii) staff workload and (iii) requirements for temporary accommodation, should there be an increase in the number of (A) homeless presentations and (B) applications to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service for evictions proceedings.

The Scottish Government publishes Homelessness in Scotland statistics on an annual basis, which provides trends for key aspects of homelessness in Scotland including homelessness applications, assessments, the use of temporary accommodation and outcomes. The latest statistics for 2022-23 can be found here: Homelessness in Scotland: 2022-23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We continually monitor and report on applications and grounds for evictions to assess the impact of the moratorium, and we will continue to monitor this data as we transition out of the emergency measures. Scottish Government officials are also in regular contact with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on costs relating to private rented sector cases.

We are also consulting with stakeholders on the proposed approach to modifying the rent adjudication process, to prevent unintended consequences when the emergency measures come to an end.

Question reference: S6W-23843

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether research has been conducted into the potential impact on average rental costs of the expiry of the rent cap, under Part 1 and Schedule 1 of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

The latest Private Sector Rent Statistics for Scotland show how rents charged by private landlords in Scotland have been rising for more than a decade, and are yet more evidence of the importance of taking action to make rents more affordable. There is no one solution to addressing housing affordability and our work to introduce long term controls as part of the next Housing Bill is one measure being taken forward.

The emergency Act provides Scottish Ministers with the ability to temporarily modify how rent increases referred by a tenant are adjudicated. Any proposed modification would be subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament. Any changes made to the adjudication process would be intended to smooth the transition out of the rent cap and protect tenants from steep rent increases which could be experienced if there is a sudden move to open market rent from rent levels that have been supressed.

We are currently consulting with stakeholders on the proposed approach to modifying the rent adjudication process and will publish further information in due course.

Question reference: S6W-23842

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are being considered to counter the potential impact on eviction rates of the expiry of restrictions on evictions.

The emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Act 2022 placed a temporary pause on the enforcement of evictions to help to reduce the negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of tenants caused by being evicted and/or being made homeless during the cost crisis. However, the Act allows the enforcement of eviction orders to proceed in limited circumstances. This includes cases of anti-social behaviour and criminality, to protect other tenants and the local community, cases of abandonment, to avoid empty properties, and to support landlords who find themselves in financial hardship or facing substantial rent arrears.

Ongoing reporting on the Act shows there has been a limited impact on the number of private landlords seeking to evict a tenant and there is no suggestion that the overall rate of evictions will rise following the expiry of Part 1 of the Act.

Prior to the introduction of the Act, private tenants in Scotland already benefitted from some of the strongest protections in the UK. This includes the strict legal processes that private landlords and their agents must follow to evict a tenant – failure to do so is a criminal offence, and tenants can assert their rights without fear of eviction.

It is vitally important that tenants are made aware of the existing rights afforded to them by the Private Residential Tenancy. Therefore, a key part of our work in advance of the emergency Act coming to an end, will be to raise awareness of those rights with private tenants as we support a transition away from the emergency measures.

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