Housing to 2040 Strategic Board minutes: June 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Paul McLennan, MSP and Minister for Housing (Co-Chair)
• Councillor Maureen Chalmers, COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing (Co-Chair)
• Michael Cameron, Chief Executive, Scottish Housing Regulator
• John Blackwood, Chief Executive, Scottish Association of Landlords
• Sally Thomas, Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
• Tony Cain, ALACHO
• John Mills, ALACHO
• Jane Wood, Chief Executive, Homes for Scotland
• Colin Stewart, Chair, North of Scotland Regional Network
• Callum Chomczuk, National Director (Scotland), Chartered Institute of Housing
• Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Mike Callaghan, Policy Manager, COSLA
• Catriona Mackena, Better Homes Deputy Director, Scottish Government
• Lauren McNamara, More Homes Deputy Director, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Housing to 2040 Strategy Lead, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Head of Homelessness Unit, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Head of Rented Housing Reform and Legislation, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Head of Housing Innovations and Place Initiatives, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Head of Housing Strategy and Innovation, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Housing to 2040 Team Leader, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and opening remarks from the Co-Chairs

Councillor Chalmers (Co-Chair) opened the meeting and welcomed members. She noted that as Mr Harvie has now left government, he is no longer a member of the board and thanked him for his contributions. Councillor Chalmers then invited the Minister for Housing to provide opening remarks.

The Minister acknowledged there had been significant change since the last meeting of the board, including the ending of the Bute House Agreement, appointment of a new First Minister, declaration of a housing emergency and the calling of a UK General Election. The Minister also expressed his thanks to Mr Harvie.

Consideration of minutes and H2040 Strategic Board action tracker

The notes of the board meeting on 25 October 2023 and workshop on 8 February 2024 were approved. A Scottish Government official was then invited to provide an overview of the housing to 2040 (H2040) Strategic Board action tracker. The official advised the board that this is the first iteration of a tool to provide the board with oversight of progress towards achieving the actions (and related sub-actions) contained within H2040. The group discussed the format and purpose of the tracker and agreed they would like more time to consider before providing feedback to the Scottish Government.

Action:

• all board members to consider the action tracker and feed back comments to the Scottish Government when they have had time to consider

Housing emergency

The group discussed the actions contained within paper Responding to Scotland’s housing emergency, stressing the need for collaboration across all housing partners and the role the clear asks of the incoming UK Government has on supporting a response.

Feedback from members focussed on: the impact of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget; the flexibility within the additional £80m committed to by the former First Minister; the role of Build to Rent in helping to respond to the emergency – where there is a clear focus on increasing supply; the impact of a new Housing Bill on future supply; the need to define how to measure progress in responding to the emergency; and the role of private landlords in assisting the response. The group also emphasised the need for the level of response to match the significance of the challenge faced and some members advised that further work be undertaken on the activity set out in the paper.

The Minister thanked the group for their feedback and advised that further work would be undertaken before the next board meeting.

Action:

• it was agreed that group members will provide any further views on the housing emergency paper out with the board meeting

Affordable Housing Supply Programme review

A Scottish Government official provided the board with an overview of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Review that is currently underway.

The board welcomed the update and it was agreed that further views on the review and its role in informing the housing emergency response would be provided directly to the Scottish Government.

Housing Investment Task Force

A Scottish Government official provided the board with an update on the work of the Housing Investment Task Force.

The board welcomed the update and it was agreed that further views on the Task Force and its role in informing the housing emergency response would be provided directly to the Scottish Government.

Housing (Scotland) Bill

A Scottish Government official provided the board with an update and overview of the recently introduced Housing (Scotland) Bill.

The board welcomed the update and it was agreed that further views on the Housing Bill would be provided directly to the Scottish Government.

Temporary accommodation commitment

A Scottish Government official provided the board with an update on short and longer term actions in relation to the commitment to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2026, particularly those with children.

Feedback from members of the board included: that the declaration of an emergency means we will see an increase in the number of people in temporary accommodation and work must be done to improve what is there; the safeguarding of children within temporary accommodation must be closely looked at; and there is a role for the private rented sector here that should be considered.