First Minister confirms £70 million for first time buyers

OMSE scheme means ‘ome, sweet ‘ome’ for Scots first timers!

£70 million will be invested in a scheme to help eligible first-time buyers on low to moderate incomes buy a home, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today.

The Scottish Government’s Open Market Shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) provides assistance to eligible buyers in the form of an interest free loan.

Eligible buyers are normally required to purchase between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of the value of a home within certain price thresholds that is for sale on the open market.

During a visit to Alloa The First Minister and Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil visited the home of Craig and Jude Deacons who purchased a home with assistance from the scheme.

Ms Sturgeon said: “”We want to help today’s generation of young people to access home ownership where this is sensible and sustainable for them.

“This scheme will have a huge impact on people’s life chances and will help them make a move from living in the social rented sector, the private rented sector or residing in the family home.’

“We will do all we can, within our powers and our resources, to help people like Craig and Jude get a foot onto the housing ladder”.

Jude Deacons said: ““Craig and I are grateful for the scheme as it has allowed us to secure a great first home fit for our family life.

“We got married in 2009 just as the housing market changed significantly. We were unable to buy our first home as we had no way of securing the sizeable deposit required, despite both being in full time employment.

“As both of us were first time buyers the OMSE scheme allowed us to purchase a house fit for purpose to accommodate our two children.

“Another benefit to the OMSE scheme was that we could look at all homes and not just new builds. This opened up more choice with regards to purchasing the right home for us.”

Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil said: ““The Open Market Shared Equity scheme has not only helped people to buy their first home, it has also helped ‘second-steppers’ to be able to sell their home and to move to a new property.

“The scheme has also helped free up houses in the social rented sector and it will continue to provide priority access to social renters, disabled people, serving members of the armed forces and veterans’.”

TRIM: just a minute …

From the board at Tenants and Residents In Muirhouse please find attached our Minutes for Meeting on 10 February 2015 (below).

10.2.15 TRIM MINS

Tenants & Residents In Muirhouse (TRIM)

Website – http://muirhouseresidents.co.uk
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/trimgroup
Also on Twitter – http://twitter.com/MuirhouseTRIM

Keeping Scotland’s homes warm

An additional £20 million will be invested to cut fuel poverty and improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s housing, Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil confirmed today. And with energy costs tumbling, Mr Neil also urged energy providers to implement price cuts NOW.

£6 million is earmarked for home energy efficiency programmes that will support measures such as solid wall, cavity or loft insulation.

An additional £14 million will be invested in low cost home energy efficiency loans available to households in the private sector to supplement existing grant schemes to help install energy efficiency measures.

This additional funding will take the Scottish Government’s investment to tackle fuel poverty and boost energy efficiency over the three years 2013/14 to 2015/16 to around £300 million.

Details of the loan schemes will be announced in due course.

Mr Neil said: “This Government is determined to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency head on, as this additional £20 million investment for energy efficiency measures demonstrates.

“Fuel costs have risen six times faster than incomes since 2003. In 2013, fuel prices rose by seven per cent, pushing more people into fuel poverty. The fact that this is happening in an energy-rich country is outrageous.

“Given the recent reductions in energy costs, all energy providers must implement price cuts now and not wait until the Spring.

“This additional funding means we have allocated over half a billion pounds since 2009 to make Scotland’s homes more energy efficient”.

“Over 700,000 households have benefited from measures like new boilers or insulation targeted in particular at those in or at risk of fuel poverty.”

MHA welcomes tenants to new homes

Muirhouse Housing Association (MHA) has announced the completion of the first batch of flats within their latest development. The flats, on Macgill Drive at the end of Muirhouse Avenue, are part of their second development on the old BT Training Ground site.

MHA accepted handover of twelve cottage flats yesterday. The flats are all main door, within a traditional four in a block design, and are all one bedrooms. They are aimed at an older age group and the ground floor flats are fully accessible to wheelchair users.

The flats benefit from an efficient gas central heating system and reach the Silver Sustainable Standard of energy efficiency. The ground floor flats have a wet floor shower room, and the upper flats have an over bath shower.

All tenants will have access to a shared garden which in the next year will be developed to meet the tenant’s needs. This includes drying areas and amenity space. MHA will maintain the shared garden area and we hope it will be well used as a communal area.

Of the twelve flats, seven have been allocated to existing tenants of MHA who are either downsizing from family houses or require a ground floor flat due to medical reasons while the remaining five have been allocated to applicants from Edindex.

As a result of twelve new units being built, 19 households have been housed or re-housed to suit their current needs.

May and Alan Price (above) are among the families on the move. “We have lived at Muirhouse Close for eighteen years – since the houses were built,” May said. “Our family has grown up and moved on now and it made sense for us to move to a smaller home. I really like the new flat and I think this will be great for us; perfect, really.”

MHA Chairperson Roy Douglas (pictured above with Bank of Scotland’s Douglas Spowart) said: “We’re delighted to welcome our residents to their new homes today and we hope they will be very happy here. Everyone is impressed with the quality of these new flats and of course we will have more to come in the summer. These are exciting times for MHA!”

The second phase of the development also includes some mid-market flats which will be available in July. These two bedroom flats will be marketed by Muirhouse Homes, and are targeted at households in employment who do not require Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance. Advertising will start soon locally, and then will be expanded to cover the city.

If you are interested you can register your contact details with MHA and you will then be included in the marketing mailing list. Contact 336-5282 or email mh4@muirhouseha.org.uk

Homing in on private renting

Shortage of private-rented accommodation likely to worsen, says new report

Over 40% of people who have tried to find private-rented accommodation in Scotland in the last five years have found it difficult to do so, according to a new poll.

The poll found that 23% of respondents had tried to find accommodation in the private rented sector (PRS) in the previous five years and, out of those people, 43% had found it “Quite Difficult” or “Very Difficult” to find a suitable property.

The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) and the Council of Letting Agents (CLA), who jointly commissioned the poll, believes the figures indicate a shortage of supply in the private rented sector which is likely to become worse in the coming years.

SAL and the CLA, representing landlords and lettings agents across Scotland, would like to see the Scottish Government address this shortage by creating an environment which encourages investment in the PRS, whilst driving up standards and ensuring value for money for tenants.

John Blackwood, Chief Executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords said: “Although the PRS in Scotland sometimes has a poor reputation, this poll shows that significant number of people are trying to access the market and that many of them are not able to find suitable accommodation.

“We are acutely aware of the need to introduce measures which protect tenants from poor treatment by landlords and letting agents and will work with all parties to drive these rogue companies and individuals out of the sector. At the same time, however, it is important to take measures which encourage investment in the PRS.

“Landlords and letting agents must be given the confidence to invest in the housing sector as well as be encouraged to refurbish properties and make them available for rent. They needed to be able to evict tenants who indulge in anti-social behaviour or repossess properties that have been abandoned to so that properties can be let to responsible tenants looking for accommodation and help meet the increased demand.”

Shelter Scotland launched their ‘Make Renting Right’ campaign last October. The charity wants to see a private rented sector that’s fit for purpose, working both for people who live in rented housing and landlords who let out their properties.

Shelter is calling for:

Stability for people wanting to make rented housing their home.
Flexibility for people to stay in their home as long as they need.
A modern tenancy that gives security and flexibility for tenants AND landlords.
A fair system for sorting out renting problems when they occur.
Predictable rents for tenants and landlords.

In their latest report published last month, Shelter Scotland noted a sharp rise in the percentage of all homeless applications coming from the private rented sector.

‘Homelessness in Scotland 2014 – Getting Behind the Statistics‘ was released following analysis of the latest Scottish Government’s annual homelessness figures. The report acknowledges that, while there has been progress, the headline statistics don’t tell the full story.

Shelter’s report paints a picture of the changing shape of homelessness in Scotland:

A worrying trend showing 18% of all homeless applications now come from the private rented sector, a proportionate rise of 38% in the last five years. 18% of all homeless applications is also disproportionate to the sector’s size, which is 13% of all housing.
the number of people who gave ‘long-term roofless’ as their previous housing circumstance rose by 24%
the number of households found intentionally homeless by their local authority had risen
the proportion of homeless applications from single people over 25 years old is rising compared with other age groups
youth homelessness is at 13.7 per 1,000

PoLHA raises funds for Kinsfolk Carers

Late (or is it very early?) Christmas gift for carers group

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) held a post-Christmas raffle and raised £115 for Kinsfolk Carers.

The organisation, a drop-in centre and support group for kinship carers, is based at Leith Community Centre.

Kinship care is the raising of a child or children by relatives or close family friends because the biological parents are, for whatever reason, unwilling or unable to do so.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: ““Kinsfolk Carers does a fantastic job and is a lifeline for many carers. Being a Leith-based organisation, the same as us, we felt it was appropriate to donate the proceeds of our post-Christmas raffle to them.”

Move to turn empty shops into new homes

Empty shops and properties which are blighting Scotland’s town centres could be transformed into affordable housing thanks to a new £4 million fund.

The Town Centre Empty Homes Fund will provide grant and loan funding to help increase the supply of housing in Scotland’s urban and rural towns.

The Fund, which will open for bids shortly, will offer funding to regenerate both homes which have been lying empty for long periods of time, and to convert empty commercial spaces into residential accommodation. The properties will then be available for affordable rent or sale.

It comes on top of the work of the Shelter Scotland managed Empty Homes Partnership which recently had its funding doubled and received a three year extension, to help bring more private sector empty homes back into use.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess announced details of the new Fund at the Shelter Scotland Homelessness Conference. She said:

“Making sure everyone has access to affordable homes where they can feel safe and warm, is a priority for the Scottish Government. But it’s not just about building new homes, we need to make better use of our existing housing stock and properties.

“It makes absolutely no sense for us to have more than 30,000 homes lying empty when homelessness still exists in Scotland.

“Empty shops and flats can be an eyesore in our communities, devaluing our properties and even encouraging anti-social behaviour.

“Bringing these empty properties back into use is a cost-effective way of increasing the supply of housing available to families across Scotland and it also aides community regeneration.

“By transforming derelict shops and flats into new homes, we will be able to inject some life back into our town centres and make them attractive places to live and work.”

EDRA meets on Monday

Easter Drylaw Residents Association (EDRA) meets on the first Monday of every month from 7 – 9pm at Drylaw Parish Church, Groathill Road North.

Our next meeting will be held next Monday 2 February – all residents welcome.

For further information contact EDRA secretary Mhairi Curran, email mhairi.curran@hush.ai

Latest stats reveal fewer homeless Scots

Homeless applications down by over a third in five years

Fewer people in Scotland are becoming homeless according to official statistics published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician. Housing Minister Margaret Burgess has welcomed the latest figures.

Scottish councils received around 9,100 applications for homelessness assistance during July to September 2014, three per cent lower than in the same period in 2013.

At 30 September 2014, there were just over 10,300 households in temporary accommodation – this figure was almost unchanged compared to one year earlier.

In addition to the fall in applications, the number assessed as homeless, or likely to become homeless within two months, fell by three per cent to around 7,400.

Where contact was maintained, four out of five individuals assessed as unintentionally homeless went on to secure settled accommodation such as council housing, housing association or private let, as an outcome. This proportion has remained stable for the past seven years.

In recent years, the focus has been on the housing options approach to homelessness prevention by local authorities and their partners.

Councils consider the range of housing options available to ensure the best outcomes for those that approach them for assistance. The Scottish Government supports this process by funding five regional housing options hubs.

Financial support is also provided to third sector organisations working to prevent homelessness, such as the recent awards made under the Housing Voluntary Grant Scheme.

Since 2008/9, homeless applications have fallen by 36 per cent.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: “These latest statistics, which illustrate the continued falls in homelessness across Scotland, are to be welcomed. It is also encouraging that since 2008/9, homeless applications have fallen by 36 per cent.

“We are working closely with local authorities and their partners to prevent homelessness, increase the number of affordable homes and address the issue of empty homes.

“Councils have been developing services in which staff assist households to consider their range of housing options to address their housing needs in order to help prevent homelessness before it occurs.

“The Scottish Government’s Housing Voluntary Grant Scheme has also allowed third sector organisations, such as Age Scotland, Scottish Women’s Aid and Shelter Scotland, to develop projects that prevent homelessness.

“We are also investing over £1.7 billion to deliver 30,000 affordable homes during the lifetime of this Parliament, working with local authorities to build record numbers of council houses and have abolished the Right to Buy to protect up to 15,500 social homes from sale over the next ten years.”

PoLHA appoints new Director of Finance

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has appointed a new Director of Finance. Heather Kiteley has 20 years of finance experience across not for profit, charitable and commercial organisations.

Having joined from another housing association, Heather (pictured above) will lead the finance team to ensure the Association’s finance functions and services are effectively managed and delivered. She will also provide support to PoLHA’s governing bodies and senior management, ensuring they are provided with relevant and accurate information to support the decision making process in accordance with good practice and the Association’s rules and policies.

Heather said: “I am delighted to have joined PoLHA. I look forward to working with the staff, senior management team and Board to develop and monitor the delivery of strategic and operating plans.”

Heather is a Chartered Management Accountant and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and has an MBA with a specialism in strategic planning. She is also a committee member of the CIMA Edinburgh branch and the CIMA Scotland area.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “I am pleased to welcome Heather to PoLHA. Her knowledge, skills and experience will be of great benefit to the Association.”