Affordable Housing Supply Programme: out-turn report 2020-2021

Planning, delivery and reporting of the AHSP

All local authorities have a statutory requirement to prepare a Local Housing Strategy (LHS) which sets out their strategic vision for the delivery of housing and housing related services and the outcomes that it will seek to achieve.

Priorities and outcomes identified in the LHS help inform local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs) which set out their key affordable housing investment priorities over a five year period.  SHIPs are submitted to the Scottish Government annually and identify the projects which will be included in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme annual Strategic Local Programme Agreements.

A resource planning approach operates. This enables each local authority to put forward local proposals for social and affordable housing developments, based on the strategic priorities in their LHS. Local authorities were advised of Resource Planning Assumptions (RPA) for 2019-20 to 2020-21 in April 2019. 

A Strategic Housing Investment Framework (SHIF) was agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to determine the allocation of funding to 30 of the 32 local authority areas, (funding for Glasgow City Council and City of Edinburgh Council is agreed separately and includes funding from the Local Government Settlement).  The SHIF formula takes into account four indicators; affordability, deprivation, rurality and homelessness. 

Each local authority has flexibility to apply the available Scottish Government funding to strategic priorities it identifies within its geographic area.  If any funding is not spent within the financial year it has been allocated, those funds may be reallocated to other local authority areas across Scotland.  Where monies are reallocated, the Scottish Government cannot guarantee that local authority allocations will be readjusted in future years to compensate for any previous reallocations.

A central budget is retained by the Scottish Government for other parts of the AHSP, including funding for the Low-cost Initiative for First Time buyers, the Home Owners’ Support Fund and the Rural and Islands Housing Fund.

The AHSP is managed through a network of Scottish Government More Homes Division Area Teams. Glasgow City Council and City of Edinburgh Council manage the AHSP for their own local authority areas as a result of the Transfer of Management of Development Funding (TMDF), which is governed by an annual grant offer.

Official Statistics and Information within the Report

The data provided in this report is based on management information. It should be noted that the Scottish Government also publishes Official Statistics on this information on a quarterly basis.  Whilst the Official Statistics are based on the management information, it may differ slightly due to statistical adjustments which are carried out to ensure consistency across different measures and across time. 

The Official Statistics on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) for 2020-21 and other housing statistics can be found at the Housing statistics for Scotland web pages.

Information on any adjustments to the management information for statistical purposes will be included in the explanatory notes and the footnotes to these statistical publications.

Since May 2013 quarterly statistics on approvals, site starts and completions by tenure have been published, clearly identifying the numbers for social rent, mid-market rent and affordable home ownership. This is in addition to the previous format of these statistics which focused primarily on the split between new build, refurbishment and off-the-shelf purchases.

The information contained within this report is based on the most accurate information available at the time of collation.  Given the scope of the programme there may be instances where information is subsequently updated.  Where previous years are referenced there may be differences with previously reported information due to updates or revisions.