Housing to 2040 Strategic Board minutes: October 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Paul McLennan, MSP and Minister for Housing (Co-Chair)
• Councillor Maureen Chalmers, COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing (Co-Chair)
• Shirley-Anne Somerville, MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (invited guest)
• Michael Cameron, Chief Executive, Scottish Housing Regulator
• Sally Thomas, Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
• John Mills, Co-Chair, ALACHO
• Jane Wood, Chief Executive, Homes for Scotland
• Callum Chomczuk, National Director (Scotland), Chartered Institute of Housing
• John Blackwood, Chief Executive, Scottish Association of Landlords
• Sean Neill, Director Local Government, Housing and Planning, Scottish Government
• Colin Stewart, Chair, North of Scotland Regional Network
• Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Lauren McNamara, Deputy Director Housing Emergency Division
• Scottish Government Official,  Housing Emergency Division, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Housing Emergency Division, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Homelessness Legislation and Programme Strategy Team Leader, Scottish Government 
• Mike Callaghan, Policy Manager, COSLA
• Emilie-Louise Purdie, Special Adviser, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and opening remarks

Cllr Chalmers (Co-Chair) welcomed members and set out the focus of the meeting to be on the housing emergency response and summarised supporting papers including: a new dashboard tracker combining agreed actions to respond to the housing emergency; and consideration of the range of housing groups that are currently in operation and also on the membership of the board.

Cllr Chalmers also outlined that in order to ensure discussions continue to be focussed on rapid delivery, there will be a spotlight discussion on ‘acquisitions and voids’.

The Minister for Housing introduced Will Tyler-Greig as the new Deputy Director for the More Homes Division and made reference to work that had taken place since the board last met. The Minister trailed the item on the dashboard and explained that working more closely, and taking joint action with local authorities particularly on voids and acquisitions is important to delivery.

The Cabinet Secretary reiterated the need for today’s discussions to be focused on delivery and how we can work together to bring proposals to make rapid changes in key areas.

Housing emergency dashboard update

The Minister for Housing presented an updated housing emergency dashboard, revised to clearly link all actions to the three pillars of the Scottish Government’s response and the housing emergency coalition paper actions. Lauren McNamara provided an overview which includes named workstream themes and action being focused into six-monthly ‘sprints’.

There was consensus that the new dashboard was helpful as was the ‘sprint’ approach but members suggested the need for applying evidence based timescales and targets, as well as the role of the wider sector. The Cabinet Secretary noted that some potential targets would be for others to deliver against and therefore careful consideration should be given to any unintended consequences that could arise as a result of setting targets. Members also discussed the need to examine how the end of the housing emergency will be defined/measured.

Action:

• board members to propose meaningful key performance indicators and owners to track our collective activity on the housing emergency

Members enquired how the outcomes of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Review will feed into the housing emergency response, and on the work of the Housing Investment Taskforce (HIT). Lauren McNamara outlined the HIT work and recognised the need for certainty and transparency on AHSP which the team were working to achieve.

A more general discussion then took place on the continuing issues facing the housing sector. On voids, some members noted that this is not the solution to addressing housing need and demand, only increased funding can achieve that. It was also discussed that in the majority of local authority areas, void turnaround times are decreasing (although not as yet to the levels seen before the pandemic). The need to achieve an optimal balance of void numbers in order to support rapid rehousing. It was also flagged that many Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) are now ‘de-risking’ and drawing back from new stock, to focus on retrofitting existing stock.

Spotlight discussion – acquisition and voids

The Cabinet Secretary spoke to a discussion paper on acquisition and voids. She asked members to consider where this sits in the wider response to the housing emergency and where the barriers are that the Scottish Government could take action on, or – where they sit with others – facilitate discussions.

Members discussed utility company issues, flagging that many do not prioritise voids and where any debt is attached to a property, this can further slow down their engagement. A Scottish Government official provided an update on work the Scottish Government is doing to engage with energy suppliers on these issues and to find solutions – for example, flagging that smart meters could be a solution to prevent future issues.

On acquisitions, it was suggested there is a lot of uncertainty amongst RSLs on the process and procedures for acquisitions and the provision of national guidance would be welcomed. Members also stated there is a degree of inconsistency by local area teams with regards to acquisitions. In addition, it was suggested that the quicker funding can be released for acquisitions, the better, with a suggestion that funding be released directly to RSLs instead of being issued via the relevant local authority.

Action:

• Scottish Government to share relevant acquisitions guidance. Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) to follow up with detail of any specific issues reported as being experienced my members

The impact of skills and labour shortages was then discussed and the particular impact such shortages can have in rural and remote RSLs. Members suggested a role for local enterprise agencies and the need for government engagement to facilitate discussions and to encourage solutions.

The need to support local authorities who have higher levels of empty private homes in a poor state of repair was also raised by members. The role of compulsory purchase orders was raised and the use of compulsory rental orders in England was also referred to. How to tackle the issue of private homes in extremely poor condition was also raised.

Members queried the value for money of acquisitions, other members confirmed the evaluation included in the paper but recognised that there must be innovation to meet demand, including incentivising best use of the size of accommodation.

H2040 Board governance role and housing group membership 

The Minister for Housing spoke to a paper that set out the detail of housing groups currently in operation and made clear that given the Scottish Government’s clear prioritisation of housing emergency action-based response work, our engagement focus - in the short term – will now be on streamlining our ‘business as usual’ stakeholder engagement via the following groups:

• the housing emergency response via the Housing to 2040 Board
• the Housing Investment Task Force
• the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group

It was flagged to board members that it is for individuals (and their respective organisations) to consider their membership of the various groups.

A discussion took place on inviting new members to join the board, on a temporary basis during the housing emergency period, to provide additional representation on homelessness, RSLs and local authorities. No concerns were raised. The group also suggested a skills representation may be beneficial.

Any other business 

Members discussed potential for focus of the next meeting in order to enhance focus on delivery – officials will explore privately owned empty homes as a topic for a focus paper.

Action:

• officials to take forward planning for next meeting, including extending invitations to new members, and future diary dates