Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-02114

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review unsuccessful Tenant Hardship Loan Fund applications for suitability to apply to the grant fund announced in June 2021 to support tenants struggling to pay their rent as a direct result of COVID-19.

No. The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is administered separately on behalf of the Scottish Government. Where an applicant is unsuccessful they are provided with information on where they can get further advice and on alternative support available. The loan and the grant are not interchangeable.

The tenant grant funding cannot be paid in advance of need and is based on a needs assessment by the local authority taking into account all the circumstances of an individual.

Question reference: S6W-02112

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether Tenant Hardship Loan Fund debtors will have a right to convert their loan to a grant.

No, there is no right to convert a loan to a grant. The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is an interest free loan paid to remove the risk of eviction. Debtors have demonstrated their ability to make loan repayments during the application process.

The tenant grant funding cannot be paid in advance of need and is based on a needs assessment by the local authority taking into account all the circumstances of an individual.

Question reference: S6W-02109

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the consultation on its short-term lets draft Licensing Order and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), how many of the estimated 32,000 short-term lets it anticipates will return to the long-term housing market following the implementation of its plans.

Our regulatory proposals will give local authorities powers to strike a balance between the needs and concerns of their local communities, with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets. In certain areas, achieving this balance may require a reduction in numbers of whole homes offered for short-term lets and local authorities have been given powers through the planning control area regulations to help manage activity in their area. The consultation draft Licensing Order also includes powers to manage overprovision, and licensing requirements should mean that some unsuitable operators and accommodation will also leave the market. We do not have an estimate of how many short-term lets will return to the long-term housing market as this depends on how local authorities use the powers they are being given.

Question reference: S6W-02110

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the estimated number of (a) empty private residential properties, (b) empty public sector residential properties, (c) second homes and (d) self-catering units there currently are.

(a) & (c) The latest set of annual statistics on the number of Long Term Empty Properties and Second Homes, based on Council Tax Base data as at September 2020, were published in the Housing Statistics Quarterly Update in December 2020, and are available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-quarterly-update/ , with detailed local authority level Excel tables covering the period from 1996 to 2020 available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-empty-properties-and-second-homes/ . Figures are split into the categories of Long Term Empty Properties and Second Homes, however are not available broken down by housing tenure.

The latest annual figures show that there were 47,333 Long Term Empty properties and 24,466 Second Homes, across all tenures, as at September 2020. In addition, there were 44,143 Unoccupied Exemptions, generally properties which are empty and unfurnished for less than 6 months and exempt from paying council tax.

(b) The Scottish Housing Regulator publish figures on the number of vacant self-contained lettable social housing properties, with most recent data as at end June 2021 available as part of the Covid-19 dashboards at: https://www.housingregulator.gov.scot/landlord-performance/national-reports/covid-19-dashboards , and with previous annual data published as part of annual Charter Data figures for 2014/15 to 2018/19 at: https://www.housingregulator.gov.scot/landlord-performance/statistical-information

The latest Scottish Housing Regulator figures on vacant self-contained lettable social housing stock show that there were 8,886 empty social sector homes (including 5,311 local authority homes and 3,575 housing association homes) as at the end of June 2021. There will always be vacant social housing stock at any point of time as social landlords prepare homes in advance of them being re-allocated. Social landlords, as part of meeting the Scottish Social Housing Charter, strive to provide an efficient and effective management of their housing services. This includes minimising the time houses are empty. Latest published figures from the Scottish Housing Regulator show that the average time to re-let a social housing property in the quarter April to June 2021 was 52 calendar days (an average of 62 days for local authority properties, and 41 days for housing association properties).

The Scottish Government also collects information on vacant stock from local authorities as part of annual statistical returns, which covers all types of local authority vacant stock, including lettable stock, as well as stock used as temporary accommodation for the homeless, stock awaiting demolition or modernisation, and stock in low demand areas. However the figures exclude local authorities which have transferred their stock to Housing Associations (Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow City, Inverclyde,Na h-Eileanan Siar and the Scottish Borders). Latest annual statistics for 2019, by type of stock and length of vacancy, are published at https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-2019-key-trends-summary/ , with detailed local authority level Excel tables available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-local-authority-housing-stock/ .

The latest available Scottish Government annual statistics on local authority vacant housing stock show that there were 7,409 vacant local authority dwellings as at end March 2019. This includes 2,782 normal letting stock dwellings, 476 dwellings used as temporary accommodation for the homeless, 2,208 dwellings awaiting demolition, 1,430 dwellings forming part of a modernisation scheme, and 513 dwellings in low demand areas.

(d) The draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on Short-term lets: licensing scheme and planning control area legislation published for consultation on 25 June 2021, available at: https://consult.gov.scot/housing-and-social-justice/short-term-lets-draft-licensing-order-and-bria/ , sets out the available information on number of short-term lets, which includes self-catering properties. The BRIA estimates that there are approximately 32,000 short-term lets in Scotland, based on research in 2019, but also highlights the challenges in gauging the full size of the short-term lets market, which includes accommodation ranging from single rooms, whole homes and unconventional accommodation.

In June 2021, there were approximately 17,850 premises registered on the Non-Domestic Rates roll as self-catering properties. This figure is from the self-catering units on the Assessor’s valuation roll. The Scottish Government does not routinely publish summaries of the valuation roll as it is a live administrative dataset which is publicly searchable on the Scottish Assessors Association website, available at: https://www.saa.gov.uk/

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of council tax registered premises used for self-catering purposes.

Question reference: S6W-02111

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the consultation on its short-term lets draft Licensing Order and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), what method it used to estimate that there are 32,000 short-term lets in Scotland, and whether it will provide a breakdown of this figure by how many are (a) a single room in a property, (b) a shared room in a property, (c) an entire property and (d) unconventional accommodation such as an outhouse or yurt.

The figure of 32,000 short-term lets quoted in our BRIA relates to Airbnb listings, and is taken from our independent research on the impact of short-term lets on communities, which was published in October 2019: Short-term lets - impact on communities: research - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The research was based on data provided by InsideAirbnb, dated May 2019. Of the 32,000 Airbnb listings across Scotland, 69.2% were entire homes, 30.3% were private rooms, and 0.4% were shared rooms.

We do not have a breakdown of these listings by type of premises. Our licensing scheme will provide data on the types of short-term let and premises being used in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-02092

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications from registered social landlords (RSL) seeking consent to waive the Right to Recover Grant it has approved each year, broken down by (a) RSL and (b) amount waived.

The following table contains details of instances over the last five financial years where the Scottish Government has waived the Right to Recover Housing Association Grant on previously grant funded projects and where the grant was not recycled within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Year	Registered Social Landlord (RSL)	Amount waived (£m)
2018-19	Caledonia Housing Association	0.155
2019-20	Arklet Housing Association	0.029
2019-20	Thenue Housing Association	1.634
2019-20	West of Scotland Housing Association	0.351
2020-21	West of Scotland Housing Association	0.333
2021-22	Caledonia Housing Association	0.625
Total		3.127

Question reference: S6O-00123

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet COSLA to discuss local authority funding.

Question reference: S6O-00077

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has commissioned of the likely costs to homeowners and landlords of reaching net zero emissions in housing by 2045.

Question reference: S6W-02071

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it received reports about scammers exploiting the new fire and smoke alarm standard in autumn 2020 and, if so, what (a) types of scam were reported, (b) lessons were learned from the reports in preparation for the introduction of the standard in 2022 and (c) measures it has implemented to reduce the risk of harm to householders by scammers exploiting the implementation of the standard.

The Scottish Government has not received specific reports of scammers exploiting the new fire alarm standard. We are, however, recognise that the risk of people falling victim to a scam remains a possibility The Scottish Government launched a comprehensive awareness raising campaign about the new standard on 19 August 2021. This campaign includes messaging on the importance of using reputable tradespeople, looking out for trademarks that products that comply with the new standard as well as signposting to local government Trading Standards teams for further advice and to report suspicious activities.

Question reference: S6W-02113

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide local authorities with prescriptive guidance on handling applications to the grant fund announced in June 2021 to support tenants struggling to pay their rent as a direct result of COVID-19, and what right of review or appeal applicants will have.

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