Tag: housing

‘Common sense’ to prevail over mortgage lending

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‘Only borrow what you can afford to pay back’. That seems obvious enough now, but during the property boom the sky was the limit and credit was easy – with disastrous consequences. Lessons have been learned, and new rules come into force tomorrow (26 April) to protect borrowers and ensure a ‘common sense approach’ is taken for every lending decision.  

The rules – known as the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) – were drawn up by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a result of the recent financial crisis and are designed to protect consumers from the kind of reckless mortgage lending that would leave them unable to make repayments.

To ensure that people only get a mortgage they can afford, and to prevent a recurrence of the irresponsible lending practices of the recent past, every borrower will now have to prove that they can afford the repayments both now and in the future. The new scheme will include a new affordability check that will see applicants interviewed by a lender and asked about their income and outgoings.

The FCA has produced a short guide that explains the changes, and around half a million copies will be given out to prospective borrowers in branches of high street lenders, mortgage advisers and estate agents.

Martin Wheatley, the FCA’s chief executive, said: “In the past too many people got a mortgage by simply telling their lender they would have no problem repaying their debt, and that was that. Getting a mortgage can be one of the biggest financial decisions people will ever make, so it needs careful consideration. Our new rules will hard-wire common sense into mortgage lending, and the guide we have created will help explain those changes to borrowers.”

The mortgage industry has been busy getting ready for the changes for about 18 months and many firms are using the new approach already, so some borrowers will not notice the difference.

The FCA has also updated its consumer information pages on its website, at: www.fca.org.uk

HEEPS of heat for thousands of city homes

£12M HOME INSULATION SCHEME WILL HELP TACKLE FUEL POVERTY

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Up to 3,500 homes in the capital are to be insulated over the next year in a bid to make them cheaper to heat and reduce fuel poverty. Homeowners and private tenants will benefit from an estimated £12m of available funding through the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programme (HEEPS) and funding from the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO).

The £60m fund to help households living in fuel poverty to to make their homes warmer, more environmentally friendly and cheaper to heat was announced by Housing Minister Margaret Burgess earlier this month.

The investment, which is targeted at fuel poor households across Scotland, will be used for the installation of energy efficiency measures such as solid wall, cavity and loft insulation. Around £42 million will be split between the 32 councils while the remaining £18 million will be made available to local authorities to develop larger scale schemes.

Housing and Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said: “This £60 million investment will help households in fuel poor areas stay warm and reduce their energy bills. In total, the Scottish Government will spend almost a quarter of a billion pounds over a three year period on fuel poverty and energy efficiency.

“Rising energy bills remain a huge concern for this government. Today’s funding will see thousands of homes across Scotland receive new measures like solid wall insulation and help to drive down the number of people living in fuel poverty.

“This funding will be distributed across all of Scotland’s local authorities, including our rural and island areas and will include specific provision for households in rural areas currently finding it difficult to access the measures.

“The investment will also support and sustain the insulation industry in Scotland, generating work and supporting jobs.

“We are doing everything we can within our limited powers to provide a wide range of energy efficiency measures to individual households and to local authorities.

“We are actively working with councils and energy companies to ensure that Scotland continues to get its fair share of funding for efficiency programmes like these.

“Only with the full powers of independence can we fully tackle all the causes of fuel poverty. We made our position clear about how ECO and Warm Homes Discount would be funded in an independent Scotland. These costs would be met by central resources. Based on current arrangements this would reduce energy bills by around five per cent – or around £70 per year.”

 Liz Marquis, the director of the Energy Agency which manages the energy efficiency measures in South Ayrshire, said: “The installation of energy efficiency measures such as external wall insulation makes a huge difference to people struggling to pay their fuel bills.

“The continued support from the Scottish Government is vital to help people in properties which are particularly difficult to heat. Combined with effective energy advice and support, these locally-delivered programmes are well proven to remove households from fuel poverty. The funding also stimulates the insulation industry providing valuable jobs and support for our communities.”

In Edinburgh, the city council, working with the Energy Savings Trust and Changeworks, will provide loft and cavity wall insulation to thousands of households across the capital who are at risk of being affected by fuel poverty.

Private homes are, on average, less energy-efficient than Council homes and have poorer energy performance ratings. Council tenants benefit from a comprehensive investment programme which has seen around £30m invested over the last five years in improving the energy efficiency of Council homes.

Housing Convener Cllr Cammy Day said: “The rising cost of heating is hitting poorer households hard. This initiative will make a major contribution to making homes for some of the worst affected households cheaper to heat. This initiative is a major part of the Coalition’s commitment to ensuring that the city’s people are well housed in quality accommodation, whether this is within our own stock or in privately owned homes.”

Householders who would like to know more about this and other Scottish Government funded offers can contact the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland hotline on 0808 808 2282 or visit www.homeenergyscotland.org.

Port of Leith boss is new chair of CIH Scotland

Keith Anderson newer177292 (2)Port of Leith Chief Executive Keith Anderson (pictured) has been elected Chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland.

With over 30 years’ experience working in urban regeneration and housing development in Glasgow, London, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh – both in the public and private sectors – Keith’s election was confirmed at CIH Scotland’s Annual General Meeting at last week’s annual conference in Glasgow.

Keith said: “I strongly believe in CIH Scotland and all it stands for, so I feel very honoured to have been given this role. As Chair, I look forward to leading the CIH Scotland Board and being a key public face of CIH in its work with members and other stakeholders in Scotland.”

CIH Scotland has more than 2,500 members working in local authorities, housing associations, Scottish Government and Government agencies, voluntary organisations, the private sector, and educational institutions. The organisation works to improve practice and delivery of housing and related services, and also represents the interests of members in the development of national housing policy.

Alan Ferguson, Director of CIH Scotland, said: “I am delighted to welcome Keith as our new Chair. His knowledge of the housing sector is second to none, combining work in the academic and educational field with a long track record across the council, housing association and private sectors north and south of the border.”

With more than 2700 homes in it’s portfolio Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) is the largest social landlord in Leith and North Edinburgh.

Double blow for campaigners as Court of Appeal upholds benefit cuts

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Five disabled tenants have lost their Court of Appeal bid to overturn  benefit cuts brought about by the ‘Bedroom Tax’. The court also ruled against two lone parents who claimed the cap on benefits violated both human rights and common law because of its impact on vulnerable families.

Lawyers for the group had argued the regulations failed to reflect the accommodation needs of disabled people, but Court of Appeal judges ruled that the court could not intervene in the government’s housing benefit changes, however ‘controversial’.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the courts have once again found in our favour and agreed this policy is lawful. Reform of housing benefit in the social sector is essential to ensure the long term sustainability of the benefit. But we have ensured extra discretionary housing support is available for vulnerable people.”

On the benefits cap ruling, the spokesperson added: “We are pleased that the courts have ruled again that the benefit cap complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. The benefit cap sets a fair limit to what people can expect to get from the welfare system – so that claimants cannot receive more than £500 a week, the average household earnings.”

Since the introduction of the spare room subsidy or ‘bedroom tax’ last April, people deemed to have one spare bedroom have had their housing benefit reduced by 14% while those with two or more spare bedrooms have seen reductions of 25%.

Lawyers representing the appellants said they are ‘baffled’ by the decision and plan to fight on.

 

Work begins on £5m Albion Road housing development

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) in conjunction with its subsidiary company, Persevere Developments Limited, has started work on its Albion Road development.

The 42 affordable homes, made up of 10 one bedroom, 25 two bedroom and seven three bedroom properties, are being built for social and mid-market rent: thirty- five of the flats will be available for mid-market and the remaining seven homes available for social rent.

The properties will benefit from a high level of energy efficiency with heating and hot water provided from gas combination boilers augmented by heat recovery systems, enhanced levels of insulation and timber frame construction.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “Building high-quality, affordable housing in Leith and North Edinburgh is at the heart of what we do and Albion Road will complement our existing mix of developments in the city. Local people still have difficulties in accessing good quality homes which is why Albion Road will help meet a wider range of needs.”

The main contractor is J Smart & Co and the £4.98 million development is being funded by a combination of private finance raised by PoLHA and a Government grant allocated by the City of Edinburgh Council.

PoLHA is building the mid rent homes on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary company Persevere Developments Ltd (PDL) which was set up in 2011 to allow the Association to be more innovative in terms of funding and development of this kind.

PoLHA owns around 2400 properties throughout the North Edinburgh area and hopes to deliver up to 500 additional new homes by 2015 through the Association and PDL.

The development is due to be completed in Autumn 2015.

Albion Road Final

 

Tenants urged to take up rent payment help

Nearly half the Council tenants in Edinburgh subject to the UK Government’s under-occupancy charge – better known as the ‘bedroom tax’ –  have not applied for extra help to pay their rent despite facing growing arrears and debt, it’s been revealed.

Almost 3,000 Council tenants are under-occupying their home and face paying between £14 and £25 per week as their housing benefit doesn’t pay for their extra room, but only around 1,500 of these tenants have applied for extra help available from the Council through Discretionary Housing Payments.

The Council was awarded extra funds from the Scottish Government in September this year, bringing the total available for Discretionary Housing Payments to over £3 million.

Recent figures from the Council’s housing service showed an estimated £1.25 million of arrears are attributable to people not paying the under-occupancy charge, which has been dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’.

City Housing Leader Councillor Cammy Day said yesterday: “It’s critical that hard-pressed tenants seek the extra help the Council is offering in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments, otherwise they face getting deeper into debt.

“Staff from the Council and advice agencies have been holding special surgeries and writing to, visiting and calling tenants over the last few months but ultimately tenants need to apply for the assistance available or they will lose out. I would urge any tenant who hasn’t yet applied for extra help to get in touch with their local housing office without delay.”

The under-occupancy charge was introduced to encourage tenants with a spare room to move to a smaller home. On average there is only ever one single bedroom property available to let for every 80 under-occupying households in the city.

Council tenants affected by the under-occupancy charge are encouraged to contact or call in to their local housing office for advice.cooncilhooses

 

Excellent! Quality Scotland award for Port of Leith

Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) has been awarded a “Committed to Excellence” recognition by Quality Scotland.

The Association conducted a self-assessment process in January 2012 and developed quality improvement plans from the assessment results, which were independently assessed by a Quality Scotland assessor.

PoLHA’s ability to demonstrate it has a systematic approach and has good communication practices in place, as well as being committed to improvement for staff and tenants, saw the housing association pass ‘with flying colours’.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “This is great feedback for us all and I’m delighted my colleague’s time and effort on the improvement plans and projects and meeting with the Quality Scotland assessor ended with such positive recognition. The challenge now is for all parts of our work to benefit from review and progress with the journey towards demonstrating excellence in all that we do.”

Dave Bradley, Chief Executive Officer of Quality Scotland, said: “Port of Leith Housing Association stands out as a prime example of how a commitment to sustaining business excellence can bring about transformational change to a social enterprise organisation in relation to its staff development and best practice programmes. Its’ people clearly acknowledge that business excellence is a continual journey and can take great heart in what they have achieved with this ‘Committed to Excellence’ success.”

PoLHA

£300 million government boost for affordable housing

Fund to help deliver 6000 affordable homes

Hundreds of millions of pounds are to be spent across Scotland on increasing the supply of affordable housing, creating jobs and boosting the economy, it was confirmed today.

All 32 of Scotland’s local authorities have today been allocated a share of £300 million in subsidy for affordable homes as part of the Government’s investment of £391 million to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) in 2015/16.

The remaining £91 million will be managed centrally, with £30 million for the Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers,  £10 million for the Home Owners Support Fund, and funding for increased subsidies for homes built to a greener standard. The rest will go to other affordable housing projects, including those that promote innovation.

The funding will support delivery of over 6000 affordable homes, including 4000 social homes.

The funding for councils comes on top of an extra £27 million which was added to their 2014/15 allocations earlier this month , and brings the Scottish Government’s four-year investment in local programmes to over £1 billion, out of a total AHSP budget of £1.35 billion.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess made the announcement in Edinburgh today.

She said: “This is a substantial funding boost that will support house building across Scotland. We have listened to councils and housing associations and put in place a system of funding for housing which will provide greater certainty and allow councils to make plans for the future.

“Housing is and will remain a priority for this Government and we will continue to invest in new affordable homes. Despite the severe cuts to our budgets by the UK Government, this is a substantial funding boost that will support house building across Scotland.

“This funding keeps us on track to deliver more than 6000 affordable homes per year, of which 4000 will be social homes. But  we must continue to work together to get the most from our resources and ensure that we deliver our vision that everyone should have a safe, warm home which they can afford.”

Alan Ferguson, Director of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland, said:

“When the budget announcement was made in September, CIH Scotland was very happy to join with other bodies in welcoming the outline budget of £391 million for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2015/16.

“This budget represents an increase of around 21 per cent on the average annual spend of £323 million within the current programme. Making these Resource Planning Assumptions now gives councils and their housing association partners the best possible chance of pushing ahead with building much needed homes across Scotland.”

Earlier this year Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced an increase to housing subsidies, which will give councils and housing associations an extra £16,000 per home. Councils now receive around £46,000, towards the cost of building a new home, while RSLs get around £58,000, or more in certain remote areas.

building work

 

What does ‘home’ mean to you?

21c art compThe city council is running an art competition for schoolchildren from Muirhouse, Pilton and Pennywell to mark the start of construction of new homes in West Pilton Crescent – and the closing date for entries is fast approaching.

‘What does home mean to you?’ is the appropriate theme of the competition which is open to pupils of Pirniehall, St David’s, Craigroyston and Forthview, Oaklands and Craigroyston Community High School. Entries can be drawings, paintings, a collage or photographs – but your artwork must be submitted by the closing date of next Friday, 25 October.

Winners of the various categories (see the attached poster) will be announced on

Thursday 21 November. Good luck!

Home Sweet Home

Varcity North ‘a game changer’

The combination of a quality spacious apartment, coupled with a very competitive price tag at Miller homes’ Varcity North development has proved to be a game changer for First Time Buyers looking to get a foot on the property ladder in Edinburgh.

The recent announcement that the Scottish Government has introduced Help to Buy (Scotland) is already attracting more first time buyers in to view and with over 75% of the current Belford campus now sold, buyers will need to move quickly to secure one of the remaining apartments.

Varcity North is a contemporary development offering 209 one, two and three bedroom apartments across five campuses off Crewe Road North.

Combining functionality and style, the apartments offer a good-sized open-plan lounge and dining area, together with a substantial master bedroom, creating a sense of space throughout, and with prices starting from £99,000 for a one bedroom apartment, Varcity North is fast creating a thriving Edinburgh community.

Anne Marie Britton, Sales Director for Miller Homes Scotland East said: “We are delighted that first time buyers are attracted to the quality, value and affordability at Varcity North. The spacious apartments offer an excellent opportunity for first time buyers to get onto the property ladder at a time when stability is starting to return to the market in Edinburgh. Varcity North is proving to be a popular destination for savvy house-hunters.”

For more information, go towww.millerhomes.co.uk or call 0808 250 6468. The sales centre is open Thursday to Monday from 11am to 6pm.

Househunters can also logon via the Miller Homes’ website to book an appointment with an adviser at the development.

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