Information pertaining to Affordable Housing Supply Programme and Rural Housing Fund: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any internal projections or analysis regarding the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, as well as / including how many affordable homes are expected to be completed each year and by the target date of 2032.

2. Any internal evaluation or projections regarding the success of the Rural Housing Fund.

3. How many applications for funding have been accepted for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

4. How many applications for funding have been rejected for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, and the reasoning for this rejection.

5. How many applications for funding have been accepted for the Rural Housing Fund.

6. How many applications for funding have been rejected for the Rural Housing Fund, and the reasoning for this objection.

7. How many homes have been approved under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme so far, and how many have been completed? With a breakdown of which local authorities these approvals and completions were in.

Response

1. To the end of March 2023 we have delivered 11,570 homes - 10.5% of the 110,000 affordable homes target. Within that we have delivered 9,121 homes - 12% of the social rented element of the target and 79% of the total homes delivered which compares favourably with the commitment to at least 70% of homes delivered to be for social rent. There are nine remaining years to deliver the remaining 98,430 homes.

We are making available £3.5 billion over the current parliament but we do not currently have funding identified beyond March 2026. Future funding will be agreed in the context of the Scottish Government’s Medium Term Financial Strategy and annual budget processes.

We have internal estimated projections of homes that can be supported with the funding identified to 2025-26 but these do not translate to annual profiles for completed homes against the target given the time lag between our funding being drawn down and homes completing and being ready for occupancy which is when they are counted against our 110,000 affordable homes target. For example, some homes which have been delivered to date against the 110,000 target will have been funded from budgets in the previous parliament. We do not, therefore, have fixed annual projections for completed homes to be delivered in the target period. As can be seen from the previous 50,000 affordable homes target, delivery is not evenly spread across all years and is usually backloaded to allow sectoral capacity to grow.

We will continue to update on progress against the target through publication of our quarterly statistics on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and continue to work closely with local partners to progress the delivery of affordable homes as quickly as possible.

2.  A review of the Rural and Islands Housing Fund (RIHF) Fund was undertaken in 2020-21 with engagement from a wide range of stakeholders including Fund applicants, Local Authorities, Registered Social Landlords, other Rural Stakeholders and Scottish Government colleagues. There was overwhelming support from respondents for the RIHF to continue beyond March 2021. Details of the review can be found here Rural and Islands Housing Fund: Guidance note MHDGN 2021/02 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

3. Since the start of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2012-13, a total of 17,277 applications for funding have been accepted for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

4. Our system does not hold information on rejected applications for funding.

5. As at 31 July 2023, a total of 79 applications to the main Rural and Island Housing Fund have been approved, of which three were subsequently withdrawn by the applicants.

6. As at 31 July 2023, no fully developed RIHF project applications have been rejected.

7. Published national quarterly statistics can be accessed here - Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). A table showing the number of social and affordable completions by local authority area can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supplyprogramme-completions-updates/

A table showing the number of social and affordable approvals by local authority area is attached.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI202300367088 - Information released

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