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The council have considered residents with poor credit ratings and have offered payments plans which have been extended to 15 years and the interest rate was lowered to 4% from 8%. This option was specifically established where owners would not be eligible for loans from other sources and is not dependant on any credit references being obtained.

The City of Edinburgh Council set their 21-day timescale during the Wester Hailes pilot and the timescale is based on experience gained during the pilot programme.

The timescale allows owners to reflect and seek advice but is short enough to prevent undue delays to the repairs. The council have provided numerous extensions to this timescale where requested by owners.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is not a Scottish Government initiative and was established by the City of Edinburgh Council in 2021. The local authority has created this service based upon powers provided to them under the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 to establish a Tenement Management Scheme.

It is for each local authority to review the delivery of their services.

During the 3-year Pilot programme in Wester Hailes, the team have had numerous discussions with owners and landlords.

In Lochend and Restalrig, the team have held a mixture of individual meetings and open ‘drop-in’ sessions where, over the course of a day and evening, local residents can discuss their concerns. So far five of these sessions have been held with the local community, in addition to the newsletters and letters that have been issued in the area.

The council have extended an invitation to Edinburgh Living Rent to hold regular meetings with them to discuss and agree options to improve local engagement.

The council is also in the process of establishing a dedicated project office in the community where residents can drop in to meet with the project team. It is anticipated that this project office will be in place during September.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council using powers as set out in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. Any concerns with the scheme would need to be raised with the Council.

Tackling the climate emergency is one of this Government’s key priorities and we are committed to ensuring that those who may be impacted by the transition to net zero are involved in designing how we manage it.

Our Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change, published in September 2021, recognises our commitment to a participatory approach where people can actively shape just, fair and inclusive policies that promote mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

Heating our homes and workplaces causes around 20% of our carbon emissions, so we cannot achieve net zero without improving energy efficiency and ending our use of gas boilers. We recently consulted on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, receiving over 1600 responses. We will ensure that our proposals are affordable for homes and businesses, and take account of responses to the consultation.

There are no current plans to issue additional guidance covering cases where an owner occupier wishes to sell their home to a local authority or a Registered Social Landlord and remain in it as a tenant in the social rented sector. These matters are covered in our operational procedures for local authorities and Registered Social Landlords on (a) the grant-funded element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and (b) the Mortgage to Rent scheme which is part of the Home Owners Support Fund.

In due course however, we intend to issue additional guidance to local authorities and Registered Social Landlords on the purchase of properties from landlords leaving the private rented sector with a tenant in situ through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council using powers as set out in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. The Scottish Government does not collect or collate information about the management fees charged by local authorities or housing associations as part of Tenement Management Schemes.

The guidance issued by the Scottish Government about the design and delivery of Area Based Schemes (ABS) allows for councils to claim up to 20% of their grant award as enabling costs. This ensures that participating households are not asked to help meet wider household engagement, survey, scaffolding and management costs for ABS projects as a whole.

The Scottish Government does not provide funding in support of the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service operated by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The total amount of grant claimed as part of the Area Based Schemes programme by the City of Edinburgh Council since 2020 is published on the Scottish Government website. Area-Based Schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

With energy bills remaining significantly high, the Scottish Government has offered to work with the UK Government to ensure energy consumers are supported, including through driving improvement to the energy efficiency of our housing stock, in order to tackle fuel poverty and ensure the energy market is fit for purpose as we transition towards net zero.

Our consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill, which closed on 8 March 2024, included proposals for setting a cap on the costs to property owners of meeting the proposed Heat in Buildings Standard. This proposal was included in recognition of our overall aim to ensure our proposals are fair, proportionate and affordable.

We are currently considering responses to the consultation to inform our thinking and development of future proposals.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is not a Scottish Government initiative and was established and is led by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Under its remit, the Scottish National Investment Bank (‘the Bank’) cannot invest in local authorities or give guarantees. However, they can work with local authorities and create joint venture structures, as long as the Bank is not investing in the local authority.

The Bank is operationally independent. As such it makes its investment decisions independent of the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers.

As noted in the answer to question S6W-29325 on 16 September 2024, the Bank cannot invest in local authorities and it does not make sub-commercial investments or provide grant funding.

As the Bank has operational independence it can work with local authorities and create joint venture structures, as long as the Bank is not investing in the local authority.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.