Agenda item

Lindsey Renwick, Strategic Housing Development Officer Local Housing Strategy Consultation 2023-2028.

3.0       SECTION 1: SERVICE & PARTNER UPDATE AND CONSULTATIONS

3.1       LOCAL HOUSING STRATEGY CONSULTATION 2023 - 2028

            The Chair welcomed Lindsey Renwick, Strategic Housing Development Officer to the meeting to present some background on the proposed Local Housing Strategy (LHS) and raise awareness of the consultation which was underway.  The 2001 Housing Scotland Act placed a requirement on Scottish Borders Council to prepare and submit a Local Housing Strategy every five years.  The strategy was set within the context of a number of local and national strategies, but there were many more, covered in detail in the evidence paper, which was published alongside all the other supporting documents.  Since August 2021, there had been engagement with stakeholders and the community on the LHS which had included the following and the formal consultation stage of the LHs had started: –

·        Early Engagement Survey

·        Resident and Stakeholder Workshops and Surveys

·        Gypsy Travellers  

·        Key Workers   

·        Private Landlord Survey

3.1     Ms Renwick went on to highlight the key challenges the LHS was trying to address while operating in a challenging financial climate, particularly in terms of capital and construction costs, but more widely as the cost of living continued to impact on people across communities, and service delivery.   This was also impacting on the delivery of housing, the costs of installing energy efficiency and renewable technologies, the general cost of repairing and maintaining homes and buildings, bringing empty homes back into use and generally the delivery of services and would impact on what realistically could be delivered in the coming years.  The LHS was also required to set the Housing Supply Target which was reasonable and properly reflected the HNDA estimate of housing demands in the market sector and be compiling evidence.  The HST was, however, a policy view of the number of homes that each authority had agreed would be delivered in each housing market area of the period of the LHS.

3.2     The draft vision was that “Everyone in the Scottish Borders has access to a home which meets their needs and is part of a sustainable community”.  Meets their needs covered a range of factors, including affordability, (not just affordability in terms direct housing costs but was it affordable to maintain, keep warm), was it energy efficient, the right size, and in the right location, part of a community with access to local services, does it meet people’s needs in terms of physical or other disabilities, the needs of older people, younger people, families, people who required housing support or other support services So when we say meets their needs we are talking about a very wide range of diverse, but also changing needs.  In order to deliver the vision successfully five draft strategic outcomes had been developed and are detailed below;-

            Where to find:

•       The full version of the Consultative Draft LHS 2023 can be found here: Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028

•       A number of documents have been developed to support the LHS. If you would like to read these documents you can find them using the link above.

•       You can complete an online questionnaire through the Council’s CitizenSpace website: https://scotborders.citizenspace.com/housing/local-housing-strategy-2023-28-consultation

3.3       Any further questions or anything to discuss please contact - LHS@scotborders.gov.uk or Lindsey Renwick, Principal Officer – Housing Strategy, Policy and Development

            lrenwick@scotborders.gov.uk

            DECISION

            NOTED.