Link Group organisations payments: FOI release

Information requested

From the government financial publications it seems that in less than 6 years Link Group organisations have been paid over £900million pounds, presumably to help build affordable homes for rent or for affordable purchasing.

Link Group Limited	£2,078,342	£44,022,922	£143,573,139	£151,280,706	£291,580,595	£174,900,371	£807,436,075
Link Homes (2001) Limited		£154,550	£1,554,085	£549,100	£3,377,050	£1,583,850	£7,218,635
Link Homes Limited	£22,134,865	£78,215,240					£100,350,105
Link Living Limited		£56,808	£113,616		£100,000	£100,000	£370,424
Grand Total	£24,213,207	£122,449,519	£145,240,840	£151,829,806	£295,057,645	£176,584,221	£915,375,238

How much of this was loaned and over what term, how much has been repaid and how much is expected to be repaid?

Also, how much has been granted to the group without any expectation of ever being repaid and what conditions there are on these grants?

Response

I enclose the information you requested. The excel worksheet shows an analysis of the published data which shows the four categories of expenditure split across the four organisations. It also notes some variances in the information between the Scottish Government website information and the table you provided in the request. The variances are:

• For 2020, the table provided in your request does not include payments made in January 2020.
• For 2016, the table provided in your request includes payments for November 2016 and December 2016 only.

Please also note the following:

• Whilst over £858 million has been paid through shared equity schemes (Open Market Shared Equity, Help to Buy, First Homes Fund, plus a very small amount through Help to Adapt), these are not classified as loans. Link act as an agent on behalf of Ministers, managing the process where Ministers invest in a percentage share of a house purchase, to be reimbursed at the same percentage when the house is sold. This is classified as an investment rather than a loan and the contract is between Scottish Ministers and the home owner.
• Whilst it would be possible to determine how much of the initial investment has been repaid this would require us to review each investment made between 2016 and 2021 individually to determine if the home owner has sold the property or tranched up their percentage share.
• When a property is sold by the purchaser the Scottish Government receives back the same percentage share of the selling price as initially invested. It is not possible to state whether this will equate to the full investment, however we would expect to receive our total investment across the portfolio in full.
• With regard to the grants (over £142 million), I have attached our template offer of grant for your information which includes the terms and conditions under which we offer the grant and the circumstances when repayment would be required. Whilst there may not be an expectation that the grants are repaid they are recorded (unspecified amount) on the annual accounts as a contingent asset, meaning that there is a recognition that they could become repayable.
• Shared equity administrative fees relate the charges paid to Link Homes to administer the shared equity schemes on our behalf. It may also include research/other costs in relation to the schemes.

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.

202200304266 - Grant offer letter

File type

13 page PDF

File size

524.4 kB

202200304266 - Link payments info 2016 to 2021

File type

1 page PDF

File size

434.0 kB