The following article was published in Inside Housing on 15 March…
The Scottish Government is close to getting pension fund money into the social housing sector, the minister announced today.
Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland conference in Glasgow this morning, housing minister Alex Neil said the Scottish Government was in talks with Strathclyde Pension Fund and Calmac Pension Fund about investment in affordable housing in Scotland.
‘I’m encouraged by the willingness of pension funds like Strathclyde, Calmac, and other institutions to discuss possible future investment in social and affordable housing,’ he said.
‘With the UK government’s planned cut in public spending expected to impact on the level of future investment, the financial pressures facing affordable housing provision are acute.’
Last month the Scottish Government announced plans to cut the grant available for building homes from an average of £66,500 per unit to £40,000.
Mr Neil defended this decision. ‘It’s not a maximum, it’s a benchmark,’ he told the conference. ‘We recognise in some areas, particularly isolated and rural communities, the cost of building new housing means that higher subsidy than £40,000 is required.’ No figure has been given on how much more subsidy rural communities could receive.
He also said the Scottish Government has today published a report looking at how savings of between £26 million and £42 million a year could be made in the housing sector.
It will release guidance on flexible allocations on Thursday, which the minister said would ‘make it easier for housing associations and councils to take the right decisions on allocations’ in their areas.
If the Scottish National Party returns to power after the elections in May, Mr Neill said the government would commit an extra £18.5 million to mortgage help through the homeowner support fund, and £8 million to home adaptations.
Jim Strang, chair of CIH Scotland, said decisions on housing funding called into question how genuinely affordable social rented housing could be developed.
‘The Scottish Government really needs to come off the fence and commit to research and set out criteria for what an affordable rent is,’ he said.
‘The government must set a realistic benchmark … [so] it can ensure the funding packages allow affordability to be met.’
There are billions invested in pension funds across the UK. A tiny fraction of that money could make a massive difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities. The institutions just need to be convinced it’s a worthwhile investment. And that will happen if care and support providers and their wealthy supporters show them the way by investing in residential property in such schemes like Buy To Help.
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