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#1 ·
Starting this thread to elaborate on individual housing needs of the city.

GCC

Friday 04 September 2009

Views sought on Glasgow's future housing needs

Glasgow City Council has launched a consultation on its draft Local Housing Strategy (LHS), to look at the future of all Glasgow’s housing across all tenures (2011-2016) and set a clear direction for investment in this sector.

The consultation runs until 18 December 2009, during which time responses and views are wanted from groups and individuals with an interest in Glasgow’s housing sector; including home owners and tenants, people looking for a home, statutory agencies for health, transport and community planning, voluntary and charitable organisations, homelessness organisations, Local Housing Forums, social and private landlords and the general public.



The consultation is based around the Local Housing Strategy’s aims:

1. To advance the regeneration of the city

2. To raise the city’s housing in all tenures to satisfactory standards, maximising energy efficiency, with affordable costs, and to improve the quality of our neighbourhoods

3. To meet people’s changing needs for housing and promote independent living through housing support where needed

4. To prevent and alleviate homelessness through the delivery of effective services

5. To promote equality of access to appropriate housing and housing services and to monitor relevant processes effectively

6. To promote the effective delivery of housing services in the city including housing information and advice

Local Housing Strategy
 
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#2 ·
Anyone used this initiative ? seems a good way to move on to the property ladder.

First-Time Buyers​

scotland.gov.uk

The Scottish Government is committed to helping people on low to moderate incomes to meet their aspirations to become home owners, where that is sustainable for them.

Its Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) brings together several ways to help households get onto the housing ladder. These include:
the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme to allow first-time buyers to buy a new build property;
the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot Scheme to allow first-time buyers to buy a property on the open market;
Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs) These are grants that help towards the costs of acquiring, building or renovating a home for people in rural areas who could not otherwise afford to buy. Further information is available here Helping you become a home owner in rural areas;
shared ownership where households buy part-ownership of a property and make an occupancy payment to a registered social landlord on the remaining portion; and
GRO grants for owner occupation These are grants to private developers to build houses for sale. They are used both to introduce housing for sale in areas with little or no private housing and to help meet local shortages.
What is shared equity?

Shared equity is a way to buy a home without having to fund all of it. When you buy a shared equity home you pay for the majority share in it and the Scottish Government pays the rest under an agreement which it enters into with you. You own the home outright, but the Scottish Government holds a security over the proportion of it has funded. When you later sell your home (or earlier if you want to increase your stake), the Government will receive the value at the time of sale of the percentage equity stake funded. If, for example, the Government funds 40 per cent of the purchase price, when the property is sold 40 per cent of the sale value of the property will be returned to the Scottish Government.

Who is shared equity for?

Both shared equity schemes are open to all first-time buyers on low to moderate incomes. Some buyers (for example, people currently living in council or housing association housing or those from the armed forces) may be given priority if there are more buyers than available houses.

The schemes can also sometimes help people who are not first-time buyers, for example those who are looking for a new home after a big change in their household circumstances. They may also be able to help disabled people to access more suitable housing.
 
#3 ·
Item 1 (26 pages)

Scottish Government Consultation on Private Housing Issues for Inclusion in the Housing
Bill 2010: Draft Response

Purpose of Report:
To seek approval for a proposed Council response to the Scottish Government Consultation on
private housing issues for inclusion in the Housing Bill 2010.

Recommendations:
The Committee is asked to approve the attached draft response.

1. BACKGROUND

1.1 On 14 August 2009, the Executive Committee approved a response to a Scottish
Government Consultation on a draft Housing (Scotland) Bill to be introduced in 2010. That
consultation focused on issues concerning social housing. The Scottish Government in
July 2009 issued a separate consultation document concerned with private housing issues
which it is considering for inclusion in the same Housing Bill. Responses are invited by 27
September 2009.

2. SCOPE OF THE CONSULTATION

2.1 In its new consultation paper the Scottish Government has set out proposals relating to
three areas: private landlord registration; licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation
(HMOs); and implementation of powers relating to repair and improvement of private
housing introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. It considers that these proposals
are straightforward enough for enactment without a lengthy further process of
consideration. The draft Council responses on these proposals are at Appendix 1 of the
draft response attached to this report. The response also contains some observations on
the Scottish Government’s draft Equality Impact Assessment of the proposals.
2.2 The Scottish Government has also indicated that it is prepared to consider further
legislation on these same matters at a later date, but that such legislation will require a
lengthier process of preparation. The draft response sets out a range of proposals which
have previously been discussed at officer level between the Council and the Scottish
Government, and urges the latter to consider including them in the early Bill because of the
urgent need for improvements in the effectiveness of these local authority powers. These
proposals cover similar ground to that of the consultation paper itself, with the addition of
proposed new powers on overcrowding by related persons.

3. CONTENT OF THE RESPONSE

3.1 The proposals cover a wide range of issues but all are concerned with effectiveness of local
authority action in relation to private housing. In some cases the issues have long been
discussed within the Council, for instance the need to make planning permission a
condition for grant of a HMO Licence. In all cases the responses have been subject to
discussion between all relevant Council services.

4. SERVICE IMPLICATIONS

Financial: These proposals will have the general effect of making local authority
action more quickly effective and are likely therefore to lower costs overall,
although there could be pressure to make more use of the powers if they
are seen to be more effective.
Legal: These proposals would alter the legal framework for the Council’s work in
relation to private housing.
Personnel: The proposals have no direct staffing implications.
Service Plan: These proposals support the DRS service-level Objective 4: To develop,
promote, and maintain a robust policy base and related action
programmes, and a cohesive regulatory framework that supports
sustainable social, economic, environmental and cultural developments.

Environmental: None.

Development and Regeneration Services
DW (169-09)
10 September 2009
 
#4 ·
ET

Introducing a new-look Glasgow

GHA unveils Phase 2 of its programme to regenerate the city's housing stock
THESE are the stunning images of homes which are to be built for Glasgow Housing Association. GHA has unveiled plans to build more than 100 state-of-the-art new homes in Govan and the city centre.

The two sites are at Summertown Road in Govan, where 47 homes are planned, and Duke Street/High Street, where a further 54 are planned. As shown in these artist's impressions, the properties will have between one and four bedrooms and include terraced homes, cottage flats, flats and semi-detached homes.

It is planned that 18 will have wheelchair access.

The new homes will also be environmentally friendly, having been awarded a Very Good rating under Ecohomes standards, an assessment scheme run by Building Research Establishment Ltd (BRE), which grades each house.

Work is due to start in spring next year, subject to planning approval.

 
#5 ·
Surely they're not using Eco-homes - that's been out-of-date for years! The Code for Sustainable Homes is much more robust and, crucially, actually current. More dismal reporting or is GHA actually that backward?
 
#7 ·
Eco Homes is used by DRS (Glasgow city councils funding body). To receive funding for a social housing project you must achieve very good. Next year they are upping it to excellent. I think that eco homes a reasonable barometer for forcing associations into better standards of housing. Its better than nothing.

Legislation is the only way to raise standards in the uk. We are miles behind the continent with the standard of our social housing. Many associations still just want noddy boxes and are far from enlightened in an architectural sense, much to the detriment of the countries built environment.

I think the above images are courtesy of Anderson Bell Christie. I think we all know they could do much better than that.
 
#8 ·


BOAK!! :puke:

They might even look a tiny bit better if they didn't plan on building them that awful colour . :eek:hno:​
 
#10 ·
Not when you consider that all housing constructed after 2016 will have to be zero carbon (Code Level 6). How that is achieved on an inner-city site I don't know - there's not enough surface area for solar panels!

And thanks for the note on DRS's criteria. In England they've all moved over to CfSH, which makes sense because it's more and more becoming part of the law. Didn't realise the Scottish regs were so different in this regard.

As for the yawning at the Building Regs consultation, I know it's hardly exciting stuff but their development is key to hitting the 2016 for domestic and 2019 for non-domestic zero-carbon targets. It's a very interesting, challenging and exciting time in the industry and if we get the regs right it'll go a long way to helping us achieve the stretch goal we've been set. Look at how much the introduction of SBEM and SAP have changed the way we think in just the few years since their introduction.
 
#12 ·
morphology can I suggest that you’re targeting of the housing associations' new build quality is missing the target, or at least is hitting a relatively peripheral target in terms of making significant change.

As non-profit-making entities they are heavily dependent on government grant funding. The Scottish Executive and now Scottish Government have been disingenuous at best in developing all sorts of undeniably visionary standards and regulations on sustainability, new build quality (Scottish Housing Standards) etc. etc. Because beyond the headline-grabbing, the two Administrations have never committed to the funding that would ensure the level of new house building required but at the intended sustainability standards.

In fact, the current Scottish Government is more obsessing on ‘efficiency savings’ than coming up with the necessary investment. I don’t for a minute argue that there not such savings to be found among housing associations, but these savings will amount to nothing of any significance in the face of the climate change challenge.

But much more important than all that (if you are serious about climate change and sustainable cities etc.) is the existing housing stock. That is where the overwhelming carbon emissions, chronic energy inefficiencies and health and wellbeing costs arise. But no Scottish or UK Government shows the slightest indication of seriously addressing this.

The Chartered Institute of Housing in England recently asserted that environmental campaigners were misguided in their campaigning against the new Heathrow runway, because the carbon emissions from UK air traffic were insignificant as compared with the emissions from existing poor standard housing.

To identify housing associations as having some sort of material culpability in all this is a bit dismaying and pointless… and of course meantime the private sector is dealt a wholly different hand. But anyway it is imperative that we get away from allocating blame to any one type of developer, user or producer or consumer – somehow we have to work out what part all participants have to play (and pay) and get on with it. The issues are that critical.

I’m taken by Chief’s point about the constraints and limitations of inner city sites. I think this underlines my point about existing buildings being the real target (and by the way I have heard excellent stuff on this from ARUP’s Peter Head). But it does also raise the prospect of the ‘very interesting challenging and exciting’ times for the industry that Chief rightly points out.
 
#13 ·
Escotregen,

I think you missed the point there. My point was that housing associations are very one dimensional bodies.

They are run from a purely business point of view (as you suggest with reference to the Scottish government wanting savings) and for the majority of the time they miss the opportunity to invest wisely in Scotland's future housing stock. At the moment there are a lot of associations quite happy to go down the d&b route and get cheap houses built - with no regard to quality. If you ask me this is throwing good money away.

I would rather the government invested in quality rather than false economies. Its my view that if your going to do a job it you might as will do the job right.

Maybe far to many cliches are flowing into the post - or maybe they are sayings for a reason! Im not sure if this a a Scottish phenomenon. English Social housing seems to have improved dramatically - There bodies seem more dynamic and forward thinking, willing to engage in discussions about design and sustainability. There are a lot of great examples from practices like mae, RHMA and DMFK.

I actually hate the whole sustainability chat. It should just be inherent in the project. As far back as anyone can remember man has always built with the best technology available. I just get frustrated that a lack of ambition be it either from the punter, housing association, contractor, shit architect or goverment means that the overwhelming majority of our housing is poor.
 
#14 ·
Sorry morphology but I think that somewhere you have got an entirely inverted perspective of the English v Scotland scenarios for housing associations – and I say so as someone who has often been critical of the performance of Scottish housing associations.

The commonly predatory business growth large-scale production approach of many English housing associations has lead to mono-type developments being commonplace across England. Most disgracefully, English housing associations have been active and willing drivers in the Governments’ return to the bad old days of area clearance, that is the clear-out-and demolish programme that is the English Housing Market Pathfinder programme. A model that the UK has well and truly proven at great cost in the past to be a disaster on any socio-economic or sustainability dimension – hardly visionary, hardly multi-dimensional.

The English housing association design and development models you admire have in fact foundered in many case this year due to the recession and had to be rescued – anyone can play in the good times at being “more dynamic and forward thinking”. But when the crunch comes it is peoples’ homes, communities and jobs you have been risking – very ‘one-dimensional’.

If you’re experience is that English housing associations are more “willing to engage in discussions about design and sustainability”, then I can only conclude that you know little about, for example, what has been happening between the Scottish Executive/Government and the SFHA and various housing associations across Scotland over the past few years on the ‘Quality Standard’. Right now there is much potential in the discussions that have been going on between Scottish housing associations and Dutch and German producers on ‘ecological’ but affordable housing.

Scotland has an immense achievement in its track record of community based housing associations. These were all based in the localities that they operated in. They mostly continue to be driven by a strong social (as opposed to business) ethos and that makes them anything but “one-dimensional”. I know of no housing association in Scotland that is “quite happy to go down the d&b route and get cheap houses built”. If you choose to ignore the reality of central Government funding then you get a distorted perspective and blame the wrong participants.

The leadership has to come from Government, but cannot for now because the UK has such a corrupt and inept political class. To quote the executive of a major UK regeneration consultancy at an event I have just chaired: “Builders and developers are happy to just tick the planners’ boxes if that’s all they want so long as they can make money”. It’s not the builders’ ‘fault’ in such a situation , just as it is not the housing associations’ ‘fault’ that they cannot produce what they are not funded to. In my experience developers and builders do respond where the planners make clear and visionary but achievable standards (this is outside of course of certain clients such as UK supermarket giants that might begin with the letter ‘T’).
 
#15 ·


GCC

Local Housing Strategy​

Glasgow’s Local Housing Strategy (LHS) sets out the housing issues and priorities for the city, and provides a strategic framework for future investment and management. It represents a shared understanding developed in partnership between housing agencies and the local community.
The present Local Housing Strategy 2003-2008 was adopted in March 2003 and includes changes subsequently agreed with Communities Scotland. It was preceded by a Consultative Draft Housing Plan 2001. The Council produced a Local Housing Strategy Update 2005 in May 2005, which includes the city’s Investment Strategy and Fuel Poverty Strategy.
The LHS Monitoring and Evaluation Framework provides for an annual report of progress on the actions in the Implementation Plan and an evaluation.
Work has begun on a New Local Housing Strategy which will cover the period 2011 to 2016 incorporating new Scottish Government requirements. An important part of this will be a new Older Private Housing Strategy which is currently under development.
Preparation of the LHS is overseen by the LHS Joint Stakeholder Working Group (JSWG) which brings together the key interests in housing in the city. The Council carried out extensive consultation during LHS development. The Consultation Process Record provides details of meetings and reports that contributed to its development.
The LHS is underpinned by a continuing programme of research and policy analysis.
Other strategies/frameworks/initiatives closely linked to the Local Housing Strategy are:

Homelessness Strategy
Housing Information and Advice Strategy 2004-2008
Area Development Frameworks
Common Housing Register
City Plan

You can also find links in Relevant documents and partner websites
 
#16 ·
Fascinating debate between morphology and escotregen, which I read while sitting waiting for a hair cut at the barbers!

Esco (can I call you Esco?), you make some really interesting points, particularly around the Government's confused priorities on social housing funding. You're spot on in identifying existing buildings as the real culprits, and it's a shame that as an industry we're still so focussed on improving new build rather than tackling the real problem. However, that's partly because there's no easy way to address individual homes with individual ownership on a large scale - it's a fiendishly complicated problem and I think government is just beginning to get there with some ideas on how to address it.

Peter Head is held up as some kind of visionary by the company - interesting to know you've heard him speak. He certainly does put a very good case forward, as you say.

As for inner-city sites, that's a huge debate we could maybe have another time! I've been meaning to post something on this in one of the offices threads for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anyway, as I was saying - thanks for the insight into social housing. I consider myself educated.
 
#17 ·
Item 4 (44 pages)

Glasgow’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2010/11 to 2014/15​

Purpose of Report:

The purpose of this report is to seek approval for Glasgow’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan
(SHIP) 2010/11 to 2014/15 and for its submission to the Scottish Government.

Recommendations:

Members are invited to approve Glasgow’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2010/11 to
2014/15 and agree to its submission to the Scottish Government; and to refer the SHIP to the
Business and the Economy Policy Development Committee for further consideration.

1. BACKGROUND
1.1 The Scottish Government has developed a Strategic Housing Investment Framework
for the allocation of Development Funding to local authorities. As part of this
Framework, all local authorities are required to submit a Strategic Housing Investment
Plan (SHIP) annually to the Scottish Government. The Executive Committee approved
Glasgow’s second SHIP 2009/10 to 2013/14 on 28 November 2008. The third SHIP
covering 2010/11 to 2014/15 must be submitted by 30 November 2009. This round of
SHIPs is likely to influence Scottish Government’s decisions on the allocation of
resources in 2010/11. The Council, however, has an agreement with Government,
reached in 2003, on the allocation of Development Funding resources to the city over
the 10 year period beginning 2003/04. The Council assumed responsibility for the
management of Development Funding for Glasgow in September 2003.
1.2 The draft SHIP has been prepared in accordance with revised SHIP Guidance issued
by the Scottish Government in August 2009.
1.3 The draft SHIP 2010/11 to 2014/15 is available in the Members’ Library. Part 1 is the
main document, while Part 2 contains an Area Profile for each of the Local Housing
Forum areas, giving detailed project information as well a statement of local priorities.
Each local authority must complete interactive electronic templates as part of the SHIP.
The contents of the electronic templates are summarised in Parts 1 and 2. All parts of
the SHIP, including the electronic templates, will be placed on the Council’s website
following approval by the Executive Committee.
1.4 A consultative draft SHIP was widely circulated during October 2009 and placed on the
Council’s website. A series of Joint Local Housing Forum events was held between 20
and 28 October 2009 to discuss the consultative draft. In addition to the feedback from
these events, nineteen written consultation responses were received. A summary of the
main points raised by respondents is provided in Part 1 of the draft SHIP.
2. LOCAL HOUSING STRATEGY
2.1 The SHIP is an annex to the Council’s Local Housing Strategy (LHS). The LHS makes
an assessment of the local housing market, sets out the housing issues and priorities
for the city, and provides a strategic framework for future investment and management.
It represents a shared understanding developed in partnership between housing
agencies, other stakeholders and the local community.
2.2 Glasgow’s first LHS ran until March 2008. The Council is currently consulting on a new
Consultative Draft Local Housing Strategy 2009 which was approved by the Executive
Committee on 28 August 2009. This provides the strategic framework for the draft
SHIP.
 
#18 ·
Item 6

11th December 2009

Transformational Regeneration Areas: Early Action Programme​

Purpose of Report:

The purpose of this report is to advise members of progress made in securing agreement with
Glasgow Housing Association and Scottish Government on taking forward the Transformational
Regeneration Area (TRA) Programme.
Recommendations:
Members are asked to note the contact of this report and agree the following recommendations:
i) To participate in the establishment of a shadow board for the TRA Special Purpose
Vehicle;
ii) To agree to progress the three early TRA programmes or Maryhill Locks, Laurieston
and Gallowgate;
iii) To support the formal establishment of a local delivery group in each of the three
TRA’s;
iv) To take forward the procurement arrangements in each TRA on behalf of the other
partners;
v) Note that progress will be reported through the Business and the Economy Policy
Development Committee.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In March 2007 the Executive Committee approved a report by the Executive Director of
DRS which established the principals for a new partnership approach to the regeneration of
eight key areas in the City. The areas identified were:

• Laurieston
• Maryhill Locks
• Gallowgate
• East Govan/Ibrox
• Sighthill
• Pollokshaws (Shawbridge)
• North Toryglen
• Red Road

1.2 The aggregate scale of the housing element involved in the programme was
GHA demolitions: 11,000
Social rented new build: 3,000
Private Sector new build: 6,000
The social housing was to be funded through both the GHA and RSL reprovisioning
programme with some 1,500 units coming from each.
1.3 The new approach was based on a partnership between GCC and GHA which would
create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to oversee and co-ordinate the regeneration
programme at a city wide level. Local management arrangements would be put in place to
control the delivery of projects within each individual area programme.
1.4 The key to unlocking the transformational element of the scheme was to persuade Scottish
Ministers to dispense with the stock transfer clawback arrangement in these areas. This
would allow any receipts generated through private sector activity to be recycled into the
regeneration programme across all eight areas. The District Valuer estimated that this sum
could be as much as £100 million, when the value of the Council’s land holding was
included.

2. PROGRESS TO DATE

Since the last Executive Committee report extensive negotiations have taken place between
GCC, GHA and Scottish Ministers. As part of these negotiations, a detailed business case has
been developed for three of the areas, considered to be more developed than the others. These
are Maryhill Locks, Laurieston and Gallowgate.
For a period of time negotiations were difficult and little or no progress was made. In the
absence of an agreement between the partners on the way forward it was not possible to
persuade Scottish Ministers to dispense with the clawback arrangements.
In the course of the last six weeks the outstanding issues have all been resolved and there is
a clear consensus on the way forward. As a result, Scottish Ministers have agreed to waive the
Disposal Clawback Arrangement in the first three of the areas when appropriate governance
arrangements have been put in place.

3.0 PROPOSED WAY FORWARD

3.1 A shadow board for the Special Purpose Vehicle will be established in December made up
of two representatives each from the Council, GHA and Scottish Ministers. This group will
be tasked with overseeing the transition of the SPV to a formal legal entity over the next
twelve months. In addition, the board will have responsibility for co-ordinating the
programme in the three early action projects.
3.2 A formal local delivery group will be established to manage arrangements for the delivery of
projects in each of the three areas. The groups will be chaired by a local elected member
appointed by the Council, and will comprise representatives from GCC, GHA, the local
housing associations and two local residents drawn from the Community Planning
Partnerships Community Reference Groups.
3.3 The Council, GHA and Scottish Ministers will enter a formal legal agreement varying the
terms of the stock transfer clawback arrangement to enable receipts generated to be
recycled for the benefit of the programme. Discussions on the use of resources generated
in this way would be made by the board of the SPV and would be in line with the approved
Business Plan.
3.4 The Council will lead the procurement process in each of the early action areas, acting on
behalf of the other partners.

4.0 CONCLUSION

4.1 The Transformational Regeneration Programme represents one of the most ambitious
programmes of urban renewal in the UK. It has taken some time to put in place the key
elements required to enable the development process to get underway. This has finally
been achieved, and we are now in a position to make a real difference to the lives of
residents in some of the City’s most disadvantage neighbourhoods.

5.0 SERVICE IMPLICATIONS

Financial: Delivering communities already contained within the Glasgow Stock
Transfer Legal Agreement.
Legal: None.
Personnel: None at this time.
Service Plan: In line with DRS Service Plan priority of working with the GHA to develop
and implement regeneration proposals (Action 3.8).
Environmental: Redevelopment will make the areas more environmentally sustainable and
contribute to the improvement of the city.
Development and Regeneration Services
GG (220-09)
4 December 2009
 
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