Our Plans to Increase Affordable Housing in Angus

Our aspiring Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) was approved by Councillors last week.

The SHIP was developed in partnership with Housing Associations and the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership, along with our own planning and property services sections. The main purpose of the Plan is to set out the investment priorities for affordable housing over a five year period.

The SHIP makes sure we and our partners deliver housing which meets the needs of the local community and informs Scottish Government investment decisions. It includes affordable housing supply through new build, replacement, renovation and re-modelling.

We and our partners aim to deliver 120 new affordable homes each year, significantly increasing development over the lifetime of the LHS and beyond. This target was exceeded in 2018/19 with 128 units delivered across Angus. Up to the end of August 2019, 38 units have been completed, and it’s likely that the target of 120 units will be exceeded again this year.

Funding for affordable housing has been increased in recent years to meet the national target of 50,000 affordable homes within the lifetime of the current Scottish parliament. Our SHIP estimates that around 510 units could be delivered in the period to 2024/25, with the Council set to deliver around 272 of those homes.

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New Build Affordable Housing Target Met

We can confirm that we have met our 2018/19 target for new build affordable homes, with 33 Council and 95 Housing Association properties delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme!

The Scottish Government allocates money each year to part fund affordable housing projects to help achieve their target of 50,000 new supply affordable homes over the lifetime of the parliament.  If councils don’t spend their allocated funds, it goes back into a ring-fenced housing fund.

For the second year running our Angus programme was able to claim more than its allocated funding, due to slippage elsewhere.

This year over £8m of grant money was claimed which is a substantial increase from previous years.

To find out what affordable housing is happening in your area, check out our Housing Development pages.

House Exchange option for social tenants

 

There are many different reasons why you would like to move home. Maybe the kids have moved away and you have too many rooms, or maybe you’re expecting another child and you need that extra space. Or maybe you’d like a garden or maybe your garden is too much for you. Exchanging your home with someone else is called a Mutual Exchange.

The mutual exchange allows Council and Housing Association tenants to exchange homes with the permission of their landlords. You can register online and look for a property you like. When you find someone who wants to exchange, you complete this short form and contact your landlord to ask for permission.

You can find more information on the mutual exchange process here.

 

Delivering Houses People are Proud to Call Home

More than 600 new homes will be built by Angus Council and local housing associations in the county over the next five years, with the support of a £25 million Scottish Government funding package.

This significant and ambitious investment in bricks and mortar will see the creation of modern, affordable and sustainable accommodation that people can be proud to call home.

Our communities committee approved the Local Housing Strategy and Strategic Housing Investment Plan on 26 September. Both of these will help to drive the delivery of these new homes for people in Angus.

Communities convener, councillor Craig Fotheringham, said, “We will improve the provision of affordable housing across Angus by building houses of the highest quality in the places where people need them most. Doing so will further enhance Angus’ ever-growing reputation as a great place to live, work and visit. Accessibility and energy efficiency will be the cornerstones of our housing design, so that we deliver homes that will stand the test of time for the benefit of people now and in future generations.”

Our Local Housing Strategy sets out how we will improve housing in Angus – creating homes of which people can be proud – and how the supply of affordable homes will be increased to help match demand and people’s needs, as well as enabling them to live independent lives. It states how the council will improve the quality and energy efficiency of all its housing to help tackle fuel poverty and reduce domestic emissions. Supporting the ambition of the strategy, our Strategic Housing Investment Plan will drive the delivery of the strategic objectives.

Objectives include the delivery of 124 affordable homes each year over the next five years (by Angus Council and Housing Associations), including more than 30 homes each year for people who need adapted or specialised housing. The investment plan shows how those targets, which represent a doubling of new build rates, will be delivered and so contribute to the 50,000 national target of new affordable homes. We are committed to delivering 350 affordable homes over the next five years, including units at Viewmount and Chapelpark in Forfar that are set for completion later this year. Work begins onsite at Abbey Quarter in Arbroath shortly.

Both the strategy and the report have good foundations on which to build. Members of the communities committee heard that 87% of Angus Council Housing tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home with 80% considering that they get good value for money for the rent they pay.

Our communities vice-convener, councillor Lois Speed, said, “We are very pleased that 83% of our tenants are satisfied with the service they receive, but we are determined to ensure that we keep improving.”