Scotland’s Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, Kevin Stewart, has written an open letter to social housing residents to provide information and advice on Scotland’s Route Map for moving out of the coronavirus crisis.
If you are our tenant, or the tenant of a housing association or housing co-operative, please take a moment to read the letter from the Minister.
The Social Enterprise Fund is a new scheme to support social enterprises which enable organisations to access the funds they need to expand and thrive. This £17m fund launched this month will stimulate further growth and support in this area.
The money from The Scottish Social Growth Fund will enable social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups to deliver community projects while contributing to the wider economy.
Organisations will be able to access affordable and flexible loans of between £100,000 and £1.7m from the new fund.
For more details about the new scheme see the Social Investment Scotland website.
In April last year, tenants moved into the new homes at Viewmount in Forfar.
We went to see one of the Viewmount tenants, Nicola Brown, to see how she was getting on, and she kindly gave us her feedback on her new 3-bedroomed home. For Nicola and her family, getting a new council home meant a lot. Here’s what she said:
How are you finding your new house?
I love it, it’s nice and big. I will never move from here. It’s totally fab, in a great location and the neighbours are nice. We have a lovely view of the town.
Our lives are definitely better now than they were when we lived in a 3 bedroom flat in a block.
How long have you been a tenant of the Council?
I have been a tenant with the council for 3 years.
What does your new house have that your previous house didn’t?
We have space and lots of cupboards here, a private and closed garden, our own driveway and it gives us great privacy. I can shut the living room door and no-one knows we are in. I like the location of the rooms in this house. I really like that we have the living room at the back of the house and the kitchen at the front. I can see my kids playing outside through the kitchen’s window whilst I’m making tea and doing the dishes.
It’s great to have your own front entry door and we don’t need to use an entry fob anymore.
The solar panels are great and save us money. There are times when we have only used 72 pence a day on electric even with using all our appliances.
The number and location of all the cupboards and bi-folding doors are great. They can be locked which means we can keep things in a safe place away from the children. Our kitchen is nice and big enough for 6 people.
All the bedrooms are a good size which means all the kids have space and we will be able to stay here when the new baby comes.
All our family and friends that come to visit love the house too.
What’s the best thing (or things) about your new house?
Having my own driveway makes my life much easier. I don’t need to worry about living on a busy street anymore. We use to stay close to the main street and unpacking the shopping was not an easy task while trying to keep the children safe and remembering to lock the car between unpacking my car.
Having 2 bathrooms with showers are is making a make big different in our life. We only had a bath in the previous place so I think it is great that you are building houses with showers in them.
This house is really warm, even in winter time. I hardly have my heating on. Our home it’s very cosy with no draughts.
If the council could only prioritise 3 things in new houses, what 3 things would you suggest?
The cupboard space, a kitchen big enough to fit a table for families and having a shower as well as a bath.
How long do you think you will stay in your current home?
Forever, I am never leaving here.
How do you and your family like living at Viewmount?
We love it, absolutely love it. Kids love the parks here and their school is nearby. There is no main road so it’s good and safe. There’s very little traffic it’s in a cul-de-sac. It’s close to the town centre and everyone is very nice here.
How has your life changed since you moved to your new house?
It’s totally changed, it’s so much less stressful. We don’t need to worry about much living here. It’s much better for me and for my family. My kids can play outside here safely. I am so glad that we are away from the flat and environment around the block.
We’re delighted that Nicola and her family like her home so much and we hope to be able to do this for even more tenants over the next few years.
We and our Housing Association partners have 9 properties available for rent now on our Houses for Immediate Let pages:
The Scottish Housing Regulator exists to
“safeguard and promote the interests of current and future tenants of social landlords, people who are or may become homeless, and people who use housing services provided by registered social landlords (RSLs) and local authorities”.
The Regulator was established in 2011 and is now carrying out a major consultation on how it will work with tenants and social landlords in the future.
If you want to get involved, please check out the information on the Regulator’s consultation pages
The deadline for responses is 14 December 2018.
See a previous post for more information about House Exchange and how to sign up. This is open to social renting tenants of the Council and Housing Associations.
The mid year report shows that there are lots of people in Angus looking for exchanges – maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones!
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.
Angus Council Housing News 