The Scottish Government began consultation on the way in which it provided subsidy for new affordable housing. It proposed a more 'strategic and competitive' approach for delivering investment.
Source: Investing in Affordable Housing: A consultation, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2008-Dec
An article examined why the policy of housing stock transfers had been susceptible to difficulties, based on the experience in Glasgow (Scotland).
Source: Ade Kearns and Louise Lawson, 'Housing stock transfer in Glasgow – the first five years: a study of policy implementation', Housing Studies, Volume 23 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Nov
A report evaluated the Homelessness Prevention Innovation Fund, which supported projects with the aim of stimulating innovation in homelessness prevention in Scotland. An exclusive focus on homelessness might not yield the most efficient results: a holistic or systemic approach was needed.
Source: Cathy Sharp and Lucy Robertson, Evaluation of Homelessness Prevention Innovation Fund Projects, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Nov
A longitudinal study in Scotland examined the health and social impacts on tenants which resulted from moving into new-build socially rented housing.
Source: Ade Kearns, Mark Petticrew, Phil Mason and Elise Whitley, SHARP Survey Findings: Social and Community Outcomes, Scottish Government (web publication only) | Ade Kearns, Mark Petticrew, Phil Mason and Elise Whitley, SHARP Survey Findings: Physical Health and Health Behaviour Outcomes, Scottish Government | Ade Kearns, Mark Petticrew, Phil Mason and Elise Whitley, SHARP Survey Findings: Mental Health and Well-Being Outcomes, Scottish Government | Ade Kearns, Phil Mason and Mark Petticrew, SHARP Survey Findings: Changes in Residential Circumstances, Scottish Government | Marcia Gibson, Hilary Thomson, Mark Petticrew and Ade Kearns, Health and Housing in the SHARP Study: Qualitative Research Findings, Scottish Government
Links: Report (Social) | Report (Health) | Report (Mental health) | Report (Residential circumstances) | Report (Qualitative)
Date: 2008-Nov
A paper set out various scenarios from different perspectives – environmental, business, economic, consumer, academic – by which Scotland could reach the target of cutting greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
Source: Peter Jones (ed.), Reducing Carbon Emissions: The view from 2050, Hume Occasional Paper 79, David Hume Institute (0131 667 9609)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Oct
The Scottish Government announced a package of improvements to the planning system, designed to improve efficiency and ensure planning was geared towards supporting increased sustainable economic growth. Key measures included: simpler and more transparent processes; government agencies to focus increasingly on matters of 'genuine national interest'; and the Scottish Government and agencies to publish annual reports on performance.
Source: Delivering Planning Reform, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report examined the role of transport as a barrier to participation in cultural activities in Scotland, and made recommendations on how accessibility by public transport could be improved.
Source: Steer Davies Gleave, Exploring the Links Between Transport and Culture, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Aug
A briefing paper said that lower Scottish Government subsidies and the worsening impact of the 'credit crunch' required imaginative solutions if the needs of people for affordable housing were to be met.
Source: Stacking up Housing Supply, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Briefing | CIH press release
>Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that devolution had accentuated pre-existing differences in housing policies between Scotland and England. Although the Scottish Parliament had embedded higher aims for policy in extensive new legislation, it had not matched these aspirations with either the expanded resources or the grant system efficiencies that had prevailed in England. Scotland needed to develop a housing market policy that promoted efficient and stable choices rather than specific tenures, and to assess the possibilities for more effective methods of securing unearned land value gains for affordable housing purposes.
Source: Duncan Maclennan and Tony O'Sullivan, Housing Policies for Scotland: Challenges and changes, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-May
The Scottish Government published a report of responses to a discussion paper containing proposals to improve supply, quality, and choice in Scotland's housing.
Source: Valerie Strachan, Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland – An Analysis of Responses, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | SG press release
Date: 2008-Apr
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals to replace council tax with a local income tax. It said that more than 4 out of 5 households would be better off, or no worse off, under the plans.
Source: A Fairer Local Tax for Scotland, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
An action plan made proposals designed to ensure that housing organizations in Scotland did more to meet the needs of their tenants and communities. It suggested that the Scottish Government could make participation in 'social enterprise' activities part of the performance standards for housing associations and local authorities.
Source: Housing and Social Enterprise, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Action plan
Date: 2008-Mar
An article examined the evolution of homelessness policy and practice in Scotland since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. It critically examined the practicability of flagship Scottish government policy to widen the remit of the homelessness legislation – effectively an extension of citizenship rights. This was compared with the more 'consumerist' tilt of the New Labour housing policy in England.
Source: Hal Pawson and Emma Davidson, 'Radically divergent? Homelessness policy and practice in post-devolution Scotland', European Journal of Housing Policy, Volume 8 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
Two linked reports examined progress in Scotland towards the target of giving all unintentionally homeless people the right to settled accommodation by 2012. There were areas of good progress: but some local authorities faced 'significant challenges'.
Source: Helping Homeless People: Homelessness Monitoring Group Report, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | Mike Nolan and Iain Mclean, Towards 2012: Homelessness Support Project, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report said that deposit guarantee schemes could play a key role in tackling housing need in Scotland at a time when rising interest rates were putting more people at risk of repossession and homelessness. There were already 28 deposit guarantee schemes in Scotland that gave homeless or vulnerably housed people access to the private rented sector by guaranteeing the deposit to landlords.
Source: Diane Graham, Deposit Guarantee Schemes in Scotland, Crisis (020 7015 1800)
Links: Crisis press release
Date: 2008-Feb
A study examined the supply and condition of sheltered housing in Scotland; changes and barriers to change; costs of developing, maintaining, and staffing sheltered housing; issues relating to low or high demand; the changing role of sheltered housing; residents' experiences of sheltered housing; and the future housing aspirations of older people.
Source: Karen Croucher, Diana Sanderson, Karin Lowson, Stephen Chaplin, Dianne Wright, Review of Sheltered Housing in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Jan