While we take a few days off for the Christmas holiday, we would like to wish all our Housing News blog readers Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thank you for reading the Housing News blog!
Month: December 2019
Housing Survey for residents of Scotland aged 55+
Age Scotland is asking residents of Scotland aged 55+ about their views on their current housing. The Scottish Government, local councils and other agencies will take account of the results when making important decisions about the housing needs of people in this age group. The results of the survey will be important for future work on developing housing and energy policy that represents the interests and needs of Scotland’s older people.
As a thank you, at the end of the questionnaire you will get the chance to enter into a prize draw to be one of five people to win £50 cash.
Please complete the questionnaire as soon as possible –
by 19 January 2020 at the latest.
Discounted value affordable housing available in Edzell and Arbroath
Discounted value affordable housing is now available in Edzell and Arbroath. Follow the links for more specific information about these properties:
Enquiries should initially be directed through Thorntons Property but can also be sent to affordablehousingteam@angus.gov.uk
First Home Fund for first time buyers is open for applications
The First Home Fund is a newly-created, £150 million shared equity pilot scheme that will provide first-time buyers with up to £25,000 to help them buy a property that meets their needs and is located in the area where they want to live.
It is open to all first-time buyers in Scotland and can be used to help buy both new build and existing properties.
The funding provided by the scheme will help up to 6,000 first-time buyers purchase their first home. This is in addition to the more than 32,000 households that have already used the existing Scottish Government shared equity schemes since 2007.
The scheme is operated by Link Housing and more guidance is available on the Scottish Government website.
The House Exchange Crossword Competition Closes Today!
The House Exchange crossword competition for registered users of the House Exchange website is closing today. This is your last chance to enter, so don’t miss out if you want to win a Google Home Hub!
For more details see our previous post.
Festive Safety Advice from the Fire and Police Services
There are lots of handy festive safety tips on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Police Scotland websites. Have a safe Christmas!
Christmas Party for nursery age children at Strathmore Hall
Bring your child to Forfar Strathmore Hall and join the Christmas Party tomorrow!.
Note: The invitation is for children in nursery age (under 5) and Jeanette is still taking bookings for the party on 07594 223596.
Rent Setting Survey results for 2020/21
Our Rent Setting Survey was carried out earlier this year, where we asked tenants to vote for the level of rent increase they would support for 2020/21. Option 1 (3.1%) received the most votes and this will be proposed to Communities Committee in February 2020. One disappointing feature of this year’s vote was the low response – only 88 tenants. We would hope that in future tenants would appreciate the importance of this survey, since it directly affects the level of rent being paid by Council tenants.
The survey results were as follows:
- Option 1 (3.1%): 61 votes 69.32%
- Option 2 (3.2%): 13 votes 14.77%
- Option 3 (3.3%): 14 votes 15.91%
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Keeping Newtyle School Children Safe
Our contractor, Bancon Construction, recently visited Newtyle Primary School to undertake a safety talk with the children at the school. Bancon are building 12 new council houses on a site next to the school.
Dawn Kane, Business Development Manager at Bancon said:
“Health and safety is our no. 1 priority, not only on site but within our communities. Safeguarding of the children at Newtyle Primary School is extremely important due to our construction activities taking place next to the school. The first step in our safety measures was to present a safety talk during an assembly to make the children aware of the works taking place, what they can expect to see and the dangers that will be around them, albeit the other side of the fence! The children will now participate in a competition to design a safety poster to show us what they learned from the presentation. Our industry is experiencing a skills shortage and gender gap and we hope that our work with schools gives some of the children the inspiration to pursue a career in the construction industry.”
The development, which is due to complete early next year is contributing to our target of 120 new supply affordable homes each year. If you would like to see all the current affordable housing developments in Angus, you can visit our Housing Developments webpage.
Angus Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy website launch
We’ve launched our new website for the Angus Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy. Now all the information you need about tenant participation is in one convenient online place. Find out how we developed this strategy and how to get involved by checking it out here.
Angus Council Housing News 