Highland Reports Achieving Priorities On Local Housing Strategy
2nd May 2024
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028.
The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply. As part of the approved Affordable Housing Programme 2023/24, 418 houses are currently built or nearing completion, 163 are new build Council houses, 226 are for social rent delivered via our partners and 29 open market purchases which brought houses into Council ownership.
The report also confirmed efforts to keep Council house rents affordable, as well as detailing various initiatives to support tenants in sustaining their tenancies and mitigating the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
It also detailed a number of housing and homelessness service indicators where Highland is performing better than national benchmarking comparators. It also summarises the ongoing engagement work with the Scottish Housing Regulator who provide an independent regulatory role for social housing in Scotland.
Housing and Property Committee Chair, Cllr Glynis Campbell Sinclair said: "The key objective of the Council's Local Housing Strategy (2023-2028) is that everyone in Highland has access to a quality home which is affordable and supports the local economy in a sustainable, connected community where people wish to live, work and study.
"The housing service performance report highlights significant developments in how Highland is increasing housing supply, providing a range of housing options for households seeking safe and secure accommodation, and demonstrates how it is helping our tenants sustain their tenancies despite the cost-of-living crisis.
"The report also provides information on initiatives to ensure that Highland is providing positive and secure housing outcomes for our tenants and service users, many of whom constitute the most vulnerable client groups in our communities and for whom a stable home environment is essential to their wellbeing and quality of life.
"Demand to live, work and thrive in the Highlands is high, and we must continue to work collaboratively with the Scottish Government and our housing partners to do all we can to improve the availability of affordable, accessible housing across the Highlands."
The full report can be found here Item 7
Related Businesses
Related Articles
First Minister John Swinney has confirmed the opening of a £1.5 million fund to support councils in removing the impact of school meal debt from families across the country. Mr Swinney said this commitment will help ensure no child is penalised for struggling to pay for school meals as a result of the cost of living crisis.
Todays Audit Scotland report Local government budgets 2024/25 reveals how dire council budgets are. This makes many more cuts in services likely in coming years.
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. Convener of the Council, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council.
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
