Housing statistics: quarterly update, June 2016

Affordable Housing Supply up to end March 2016

Affordable Housing Supply Programme ( AHSP) statistics reflect the broader supply of affordable homes (i.e. for social rent, affordable rent and affordable home ownership) and include off the shelf purchases and rehabilitations as well as new build. The social rent new build element of this covers largely the same houses referred to in the social sector new build section of this report. Statistics for the AHSP are available up to the end of March 2016. As a result they have been presented here for the year to end March. This differs from the figures in much of the remainder of this report which cover years to end December.

Changes in the funding programme in 2011 and 2012 impacted on the timing of affordable housing activity as well as the level of activity and this should be borne in mind when making comparisons over time.

Approvals, starts and completions are all measured for the AHSP. Approval is the point at which funding is granted and, along with completion, is a significant part of the administration process meaning that the data should be of good quality. Starts meanwhile can be recorded at any point in the development, for example when site clearance begins or any point up to the beginning of ground works for foundations. As a result approvals are generally deemed a better measure than starts for AHSP data.

Social Rent includes Housing Association Rent, Council House Rent as well as Home Owner Support Fund Rent

Affordable Rent includes Mid-Market Rent ( MMR), National Housing Trust ( NHT) Rent as well as other programmes such as the Empty Homes Loan Fund ( EHLF) and Rural Homes for Rent ( RHfR)

Affordable Home Ownership includes Open Market Shared Equity ( OMSE), New Supply Shared Equity ( NSSE), Shared Ownership ( LCHO) as well as other programmes such as Home Owner Support Fund Shared Equity.

Chart 10: Annual Affordable Housing Supply Programme ( AHSP) approvals and completions, year to end March, 2006-2016

Chart 11: Quarterly Affordable Housing Supply Programme approvals and completions, 2005-2015

A total of 2,153 affordable homes were completed in the quarter between January and March 2016. This is lower than the same quarter in 2014, with a 23% decrease, or 645 fewer homes than the same quarter last year.

Between January and March 2016 a total of 3,708 affordable homes were approved. This is 553 (18%) more than in the same quarter in the previous year. It brings the total for the year to end March 2016 to 7,945 approvals, up 26% on the previous year.

Chart 12a: AHSP Completions, years to end March, 2006 to 2016

Chart 12a above shows that in 2016 (year to end March), total affordable housing supply programme completions have decreased compared to 2014 and 2015. The decrease was mostly caused by social rent (a decrease of 12%, or 523 fewer homes than then previous year), along with a decrease in affordable rent completions (decrease of 8% or 87 fewer homes than the previous year). Affordable Home ownership completions increased on the previous year by 4%, or 59 homes).

Affordable Housing Supply Completions - Scottish Government Target to deliver 30,000 affordable homes, including 20,000 social rented homes and 5,000 council homes, between 2011-12 and 2015-16

The Quarterly statistics show that over the full period of the target between 2011-12 and 2015-16 there were a total of:

• 33,490 affordable housing supply completions, of which:
• 22,523 were for social rent, including 5,992 council house completions
• 3,473 were for other affordable rent
• 7,494 were for affordable home ownership

Chart 12b: Total Affordable Housing Supply Programme Completions from 2011-12 to 2015-16, by category

Sales of Local Authority Dwellings to Sitting Tenants (Right to Buy)

Most sales of local authority housing to tenants are sales under Right to Buy although a small number cover other sales such as voluntary sales by local authorities to sitting tenants.

Chart 13: Local Authority Sales to Sitting Tennants: Quarterly applications and sales, 2005 onwards

In July 2013 the Scottish Government announced that the Right to Buy was to end for all tenants. Immediately following this announcement the number of applications and the number of sales between July and September 2013 both increased (by 39% and 44% respectively) compared to the previous quarter. The increases were higher than in the same quarter of 2012, where the number of applications and the number of sales increased by 5% and 7% respectively.

The most recent figures available are for October to December 2015. During this period there were 913 Right to Buy applications (47% higher than in the same quarter the previous year, and 42% higher than in the same quarter in 2013) and 475 sales (1% higher than in the same quarter in the previous year, and 53% higher than in the same quarter in 2013).

Throughout 2015 there were 1,609 sales to sitting tenants, 1% more than in the previous year and 4,180 applications which is 25% more than the previous year.