Housing statistics 2017: key trends summary

Scheme of Assistance

In 2016-17, councils provided householders with 210,113 instances of help. Most of these (over 90%) were non-financial.

In 2016-17, 10,483 scheme of assistance grants were paid to householders, a 3% decrease (or 270 fewer grants) than 2015-16. Scheme of Assistance grants totalled £31.8 million, which is similar to 2015-16. The majority of these were for disabled adaptions, 5,967 grants which is 8% less than the 2015-16 figure of 6,482. Disabled adaptation grants in 2016-17 totalled £22.8 million which is less than the 2015-16 figure of £23.1 milliion.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced a new Scheme of Assistance, which replaced the previous system of private sector home improvement grants. The scheme also aims to encourage home owners to take more responsibility for the condition of their homes, to ensure that private housing in Scotland is kept in a decent state of repair. Home owners are primarily responsible for their own property under their title deeds, but local authorities have statutory powers to maintain and improve the general condition of private sector housing in their area. If an owner needs help to look after their home, the Scheme of Assistance allows local authorities broad discretionary powers to provide assistance. This assistance can be provided through advice and guidance, practical help, or through financial assistance by way of grants or loans. It is for the local authority to determine what kinds of assistance are made available on the basis of local priorities and budgets.

Local authorities must provide assistance to owners who have been served a statutory work notice requiring them to bring a house into a reasonable state of repair. Local authorities must also provide assistance by way of grant ^[4] for most work to adapt homes to meet the needs of disabled people, other than for home extensions. All other assistance is discretionary. Under the Scheme of Assistance local authorities must prepare a statement providing information about the assistance that is available locally.

In 2016-17, 10,483 scheme of assistance grants were paid to householders, which is less than the previous year (a 3% increase or 270 more grants). Scheme of Assistance grants in 2016-17 totalled £31.8 million which is similar to the 2015-16 figure. The majority of these grants were for disabled adaptions, 5,967 grants which is less than the 2015-16 figure of 6,482. Disabled grants in 2016-17 totalled £22.8 million which less than the 2015-16 figure of £23.1 million.

In 2016-17, councils provided householders with 210,113 instances of help. Most of this help (194,802 cases or over 90% of all cases) was in the form of non-financial assistance such as website hits, leaflets or advice. Total spending was almost £43.3 million. 5,967 grants were paid to disabled households totalling £22.8 million. A further 4,516 grants were paid to other households totalling £8.7 million.

Link to tables on housing for older people and people with disabilities: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/SoA