Calling All Homeowners! Have Your Say on Energy Efficiency!

Calling all homeowners

The Scottish Government is consulting with owner-occupiers about setting minimum energy efficiency standards (EPS) for their homes. The proposal sets out a minimum EPC band C from 2024. to make all Scottish homes warmer, greener and more efficient, and for housing to play a full part in Scotland’s efforts to tackle climate change.

This consultation seeks views on proposals to set a standard for energy efficiency and to make it mandatory for homeowners from 2024 onwards.

The Government wants to know:

• if the standards should be legally binding,
• what the minimum standard should be,
• what help can be made available to help households pay for improvements,
• what the impacts could be.

The consultation will end on 26 March 2020. For more details see the consultation paper and give your views here.

 

 

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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.

Funding Announced to Help End Homelessness

We’re pleased to announce the award of £172,000 from the Scottish Government to support our 5 year Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan to help prevent homelessness and ensure homeless people get the help they need quickly .

The funding is part of the £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund announced by the First Minister to support the prevention of homelessness and the implementation of the recommendations from the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group.

As a key part of these recommendations, each local authority submitted their Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan to the Scottish Government by 31 December 2018. Soon we will publish our plan, following feedback received from the Scottish Government. The plan outlines a number of actions under five priorities to achieve rapid rehousing in Angus, developed with extensive consultation with partners, stakeholders and the community:

• PRIORITY 1: Increase focus on prevention to stop homelessness happening in the first place
• PRIORITY 2: Ensure households get through the homeless system faster
• PRIORITY 3: Ensure homeless households can access existing housing
• PRIORITY 4: Ensure homeless households can access the right type of support
• PRIORITY 5: Increase affordable housing supply to meet needs of homeless households

The distribution of the remaining £16 million funding for 2020/21 and 2021/22 will be subject to further consideration of potential options by the Scottish Government and COSLA.

Communities Convener, Mark Salmond said

We welcome the additional funding which will help us and our partners deliver a number of initiatives identified to make the change to rapid rehousing that we are all committed to. We will continue to work in partnership with the Scottish Government to support the strong, determined national effort to end rough sleeping, transform the use of temporary accommodation and end homelessness.

Scottish Government Families and Communities Fund opens for applications

The new Scottish Government Families and Communities Fund is now open for applications.

The fund will run from April 2020 to March 2023, with up to £16 million being available each year. The funding is targeted at registered Scottish charities (that are also a company limited by guarantee or a SCIO) which deliver work of national significance.

The full criteria for the fund along with guidance about the different aspects of it are available at Corra Foundation’s website

There will be four Families and Communities Fund information sessions:

• Glasgow on Tuesday 18^thJune at 1.30pm
• Dundee on Monday 24^thJune at 1.30pm
• Edinburgh on Wednesday 26^thJune at 1.30pm
• Webinar on Thursday 27^thJune at 2.00pm

Organisations that think they fit the fund criteria can book a place at one of these events using the link on Corra Foundation’s website.

Voluntary Action Angus (VAA) and our funding team may be able to support Angus bids. Contact Hayley Mearns from VAA if you are interested in getting together on this fund.

Support for Home Owners in Danger of Losing Their Homes

The Home Owners Support Fund is a government initiative to help home owners who are at risk of losing their home.

Run by the Scottish Government, the Home Owners Support Fund is made up of two schemes:

• Mortgage to Shared Equity

The fund helps home owners who can no longer afford their mortgages. The Scottish Government buys a stake in your property (up to 30%) so you can reduce your secured loan. You’ll still own and have responsibility for maintaining and insuring your home.

• Mortgage to Rent

If you are in danger of having your home repossessed, the Scottish Government’s mortgage to rent scheme could allow you to remain in your home as a tenant.The scheme allows a social landlord (housing association or local council) to buy your home. You’ll continue to live there as a tenant.

For further information see the Scottish Government’s website  and the Information Booklet

If this applies to you, you should discuss your situation with both your lender and an independent money adviser before you apply for the scheme.

Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan in Angus approved

A 5-year Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan was approved by Councillors in last week. As we mentioned in the previous post, Local Authorities, have been asked by the Scottish Government to work with local partners to bring forward a 5-year plan by December 2018.

This is a new policy to address homelessness more pro-actively; through prevention, by moving people through temporary accommodation quicker, and by improving the support they receive through better co-ordination.

Prevention will be the first priority, and that means directing resources to things such as mental health support, combating substance abuse, and helping prevent relationship breakdown. For those who do become homeless we will prioritise the allocation of our accommodation to them so that we can deliver the support they need to re-establish themselves quickly in the community. For that to happen we also need the help and understanding of the community.

We and our partners will also need to increase allocations to homeless households to 58% of all lets initially. So for us, out of the 800 changes of tenancy in the first year, we estimate that around 464 of those will be allocated to homeless households.

The main aim of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan will be provide long-term housing provision for Angus citizens, at a time when they are most vulnerable.

This plan sets out how we in Angus can achieve that aim over the next 5 years. Successful implementation of the plan will result in:

• Increased focus on prevention, to reduce homeless applications

• Reduced the time it takes to process homeless cases

• Reduced time spent in temporary accommodation

• Reducing the number of temporary accommodation units and instead helping support people into permanent housing quicker

• Increasing tenancy sustainment 

Need Help with Your Finances? Call the New Financial Health Check advice service

A personalised financial advice service is now open for low income families and older people.

 The new Financial Health Check service is funded by the Scottish Government for the next two years.

Low income families and older people can get personalised advice on money matters, from reducing household energy costs to accessing grants such as the Best Start Grant and the School Clothing Grant. This will help people avoid the “poverty premium” of paying more for essential goods and services.

The Financial Health Check service is free and delivered over the phone (free telephone number 0800 085 7145) or face to face at Citizens Advice Bureaux.

For more details see the Scottish Government website

 

Housing Beyond 2021 – Scottish Government consultation on the future of housing

 

The Scottish Government has now opened a new consultation on what housing in Scotland should look like after 2021 and up to 2040.

Over the next 12 months the Government will be engaging with local authorities, businesses, the third sector, home owners and tenants.

For more information on the consultation, and to give your own views, see the Scottish Government website.

Want to Build Your Own Home? Government Loans Are Available from the Self Build Loan Fund

The Scottish government have recently launched a Self-Build Loan Funding scheme for people wishing to self-build their own home.

The scheme targets people that have been unable to source a mainstream self-build mortgage to undertake their project, but who will be able to obtain a mainstream mortgage upon completion.

The Scotland wide scheme is operated by ‘The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust’ on behalf of the government and is taking applications now.

Qualifying criteria apply but for more information on accessing loan funding for your self build project please see the website.

Ministerial visit to Academy Court in Forfar

The Scottish Government Minister for local government, housing and planning, Kevin Stewart visited the former Chapelpark School, now transformed into modern council houses, and now known as Academy Court.

The minister met with Academy Court tenants, elected members and officers who gave a tour of the redeveloped B-listed buildings.

Housing spokesperson Cllr Craig Fotheringham said:

I am delighted to host this visit to the new Academy Court so that the Minister can see the transformation first-hand. There has been a fantastic response to these new homes, with over 700 people coming along to the Open Day in July. These are modern homes with a number of innovative and exciting technologies, which, coupled with the history of the buildings, have made these homes attractive to our tenants. I’m positive that this enthusiasm will be retained and future generations will also be proud to call Academy Court ‘home’.