2016 Scottish Parliament Election Manifestos: Comparative analysis of housing and related policies

Transcription

1 2016 Scottish Parliament Election Manifestos: Comparative analysis of housing and related policies Supply 10% year-on-year increase in new house completions across all sectors to return to around 25,000 new homes per year by the end of the decade in total, an additional 100,000 homes over the next five years including 50,000 affordable homes across different tenures. Local authorities to compile publicly accessible brownfield land registers. Introduce presumption to Repeal provisions in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1959 to allow local authorities to acquire land for housing at existing use value. Protect greenbelts from further encroachment. Bring Scotland s 11,000 ha of vacant land back into use through land reform. Increase number of affordable homes by 50,000 over the next Parliament including 40,000 for social rent rather than purchase. 110,000 new homes brought into use by 2021 with one third for affordable rent. Build 60,000 affordable homes including 45,000 for social rent. Create legal powers, where needed, to allow councils to compel the sale of derelict and brownfield land for early development. Introduce a Land Value Tax. Invest over 3 billion over the next parliament to deliver at least 50,000 new affordable houses including at least 35,000 for social rent. Bring empty or derelict properties back into housing use through flexible grants, loans and guarantees. Support bringing empty homes into use through Empty Homes Partnership, Empty Homes Fund and

2 build on brownfield land for major housing applications. Town Centre Empty Homes Fund. Incentives for smaller builders and facilitate selfbuild / innovative off-site construction. Promote serviced plots, with infrastructure pre-built and land made available to small builders and self-build across Scotland. Rural Housing Fund to provide sustained funding for small builders across rural Scotland. New Help to Rebuild programme to bring vacant properties back into use with budgets increased by 30m over Parliament lifetime. Community Empowerment Fund to be used to encourage communities to buy neglected property / land. Reintroduce the Croft House Loan scheme. Create a Rural Housing Fund - 25m over next three years to build new affordable homes. Establish a Scottish Land Commission and publish a Land Rights and Responsibilities statement. Tax and funding Protect investment rate for housing associations and ensure they can attract investment on open markets including by not extending Right to Buy to housing associations. Ensure continuation of Help to Buy equity loan scheme New Housing Investment Bank as an extra source of funding for social housing including governmentguaranteed rate of return for pension funds. Replace Council Tax with a Residential Property Tax 1% with tax-free housing Support continued innovation to harness new forms of funding and bring new property types into use. Expand the Housing Fund for Scotland model to all funds, adding 12,000 new homes. Scrap the Council tax and replace with a fairer system based on property values, retaining all existing exemptions. Continue to invest in Help to Buy and Shared Equity schemes million in 2016/17. Reform local taxation by asking those living in the highest banded houses to pay more and reducing tax for low income families

3 until the end of the Parliament with appropriate funding. Reintroduce Right to Buy in Scotland and ringfence funds raised for future social house-building. LBTT: Expand top threshold for the 5% band to 500,000. LBTT: Grace period from second home supplement of 60 days for accidental second home owners. LBTT: Waive second home supplement for investors willing to enter rent-lock schemes and offer affordable rents for set period. Ensure new Rural Housing Fund provides sustained funding for smaller developers in rural areas. allowance of 10,000 per home, phased in over 5 years. Press for the removal of VAT on building repairs. Targeted help with financing repairs e.g. grants / interest-free loans / deferred payment. Use a proportion of future Barnett consequentials classed as financial transactions to fund new housing association properties and help-tobuy schemes. Renew empty homes strategy to bring up to 27,000 empty homes back into use as part of 110,000 new homes target including new Help to Renovate loan. Work with the British Business Bank to support SME house-builders unable to get support from traditional banks. New Fit for the Future Investment Plan to include increased new affordable housing and to create more warm homes. with children. Increase financial accountability of local authorities by assigning a share of Income Tax to them. Ask local authorities to ensure local development plans take account of increasing need for housing for older and disabled people and consider extending Housing Association Grant available to councils and housing associations for this purpose. Consider introduction of a similar scheme to Help to Buy to encourage growth in retirement housing. Increase investment in social rented housing by local authority pension funds.

4 Energy efficiency All properties to achieve EPC C rating or above by Energy efficiency budget line to increase gradually to reach 10% of total capital budget by 2020/21 supplemented by loans and other relief measures and with initial focus on hardest to reach homes and lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments to be protected. Expansion of area-based retrofitting schemes. Design a Scottish fuel poverty scheme funded by the largest energy companies. All homes to achieve an EPC Band C by Minimum energy efficiency standards at the point of sale or rent. Streamline processes for accessing funding. Enhance national advice service by Energy Saving Trust. Coordinated action through smart meter rollout to deliver wholehouse approach to energy efficiency and usage. 50% of all our energy use from renewables by 2030 including measures to generate more renewable heat. Give local authorities power to tackle fuel poverty through better planning for district heating / renewable energy technology in new social housing / good energy performance in new buildings. Establish catch-up zones for warmer homes and to tackle fuel poverty in remote and island areas which have fallen behind and need more flexibility in the installation requirements. Restart stalled review of new building standards for greater energy efficiency with ongoing plan to reflect Danish experience of increasing standards incrementally over decades. Use new powers to shape the Energy Company Obligation to enable combined power company / Scottish Government grant support to make Introduce a Warm Homes Act to support the growth of district heating, renewable heating and investment in energy efficiency. Support pensioners using off-grid energy by bringing forward their Winter Fuel Payment. New homes to be built to the highest standards of thermal insulation. Invest 103 million in to deliver energy efficiency improvements for 14,000 more homes. Convene a summit of utility companies to provide best rates available for low income households and reduce need for prepayment meters. Promote the Our Power social enterprise energy model to help keep costs down for social rent tenants. Prioritise development of district heating system and establish a loan fund. Review the fuel poverty action plan, including the fuel poverty eradication target. Consult on best way to help owner occupied houses reach energy efficient standards through mix of grants and low cost loans. Consult on regulating

5 homes warmer. Newly-let properties to achieve energy rating C through phased regulation. New social housing to incorporate renewable energy systems as condition of public funding support. Use the new power to hold OFGEM to account, to press for new governance arrangements for renewable heat. Encourage local authorities to use extended powers and Municipal Energy Strategy to investigate using renewable energy generation to provide low tariffs for those in fuel poverty. energy efficiency in the private rented sector. Raise the profile of fuel poverty schemes and include them in our benefit take up campaign. Ensure Scotland s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP) fuel poverty measures are targeting people living in poverty and examine use of new flexibilities over the Warm Homes Discount and ECO to assist these aims. Introduce a Warm Homes Bill to help tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. Set up Taskforce to explore new ways to help rural households heat their homes affordably. Warm Homes Act to secure the growth of district heating and renewable heat, and help to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

6 Welfare 3 principles: Primarily support most vulnerable Be flexible and personalised Opportunities and support for those who can and want to work to do so. More robust and localised data to aid design and evaluation. Give claimants choice over frequency of payments, split payments and housing benefit. Support aligning Carer s Allowance with Jobseeker s Allowance / explore potential integration of Attendance Allowance and DLA/PIP. Creation of a Crisis Family Fund to support at least 10,000 families over the course of the next Parliament. Set up a Social Security Commission to explore and recommend the principles on which a Scottish benefits system should be established. Weekly top-up to Child Benefit. Split Universal Credit between partners and allow payments more frequently than once a month. Strengthen the Scottish Welfare Fund to enable rapid decisions on applications. Support people left without income due to UK benefit delays. Push for full devolution of social security powers. New Scottish welfare system requires crossparty support, adopting 3 principles: Underpinned by respect for the dignity of individuals. Accessible, fair and commands the full confidence of claimants and the organisations and services that support them. Suited to the needs of people in Scotland. Allow housing benefit to be paid directly to landlords. Retain entitlement to housing benefit for those aged Local authorities to ensure young people leaving care can access good quality housing. Increase Carers Benefit to bring it into line with the rate for jobseekers allowance. Remove the bedroom tax. Establish a statutory Scottish Social Security Advisory Committee to review changes to benefits and any changes to welfare policy in Scotland. Give people the option of either cash or in kind payments through the Scottish Welfare Fund. Protect the Scottish Welfare Fund and ensure crisis grants and loans are administered fairly. Allow housing element of Universal Credit to be paid direct to social landlords. Protect housing benefit for young people aged Introduce a Scottish Social Security Bill in the first year of the next parliament and establish a new Social Security Agency. Abolish the Bedroom Tax as soon as we have the power to do so. Expanded Maternity and Early Years Allowance to help tackle child poverty. Protect the Scottish Welfare Fund. Raise Carers Allowance to same level as Jobseekers Allowance. Increase child allowance within the council tax reduction scheme by 25%. Change how Universal Credit is paid to ensure vulnerable people are better supported. Allow housing element of Universal Credit to be paid direct to social housing landlords and consider extending to private

7 landlords. Provide option of having Universal Credit payments made fortnightly instead of monthly. Restoration of housing benefit for year olds Planning Additional resources to support planning reform. Explore option of linking planning fees to performance of planning departments. Require planning consent to use a property as a second home. Support investment in public planning services, community-led development plans and extra safeguards to make sure people s participation is respected. Continue Scottish planning policy review to ensure planning system supports appropriate delivery of housing and other infrastructure / environmental protection / addresses community engagement. Improve the effectiveness of the plan-led system to ensure it respects local communities and holds the confidence of the public, developers and locally elected members. Bring forward a Planning Reform Bill based on the recommendations of the Planning Review with aim of streamlining the system. Amend Planning Obligations to benefit all and prevent completion delays. Campaign for equal right of appeal when development proposals don t follow the agreed plan. Introduce a clean land and building clause to ensure non-domestic property owners don t leave properties neglected or abandoned. Modernise compulsory purchase orders to bring vacant and derelict land back.

8 Rented sector Rent-lock arrangements to grant fund new build properties by private landlords in exchange for letting at affordable rents for set time period. Similar rent-lock arrangements to provide land-lords with set guaranteed mid-market rent in exchange for providing properties for use for housing list allocations. Remove constraints on housing allocation arising from central legislation. Long term rent guarantee schemes for rural property owners who provide longterm affordable housing. Campaign for rent controls across Scotland which reflect the quality of the property and limit future rent rises. Better regulation to tackle poor service and ensure information is available about good letting agencies and landlords. Work to professionalise the private rented sector for the benefit of tenants. Support legislative changes which make it easier to establish housing cooperatives or bring rented property into shared management. New not-for-profit service to manage major housing repairs. Regulate private rents and cap rent increases. Consult on introducing a Charter similar to that in the social rented sector to drive up standards in the private rented sector. Offer housing health checks for all tenants in the social rented sector. Consultation on a national standard for private rented homes. Improve tenant participation in the management of their homes including duty on Housing Associations and councils to consult with tenants. Use the new Housing and Property Tribunal to encourage access to justice and dispute resolution and ensure the Tribunal does not charge fees to tenants or landlords. Encourage councils to use landlord registration system to inform landlords of their responsibilities and ensure and enforce legislative compliance. Encourage tenants to know their legislative rights on housing standards, repairing

9 standards and new tenancies. Homelessness National strategy on preventing homelessness, including measures to empower tenants through better advice and support, including legal aid. Help tackle youth homelessness through an emphasis on mediation and reconciliation with families. Support by a dozen new centres across Scotland offering supported accommodation for young people, with direct access to advice and training. Consult on and adopt a new cross-departmental strategy for tackling homelessness. Develop a joined up approach between local government, health, social services and the third sector. All temporary accommodation to be the same standard as permanent accommodation by end of the Parliament. Quality Integration of health and social care Work with housing associations across Scotland to tackle delayed discharge in hospitals. Support action to drive up space standards, design houses that are easy to adapt for independent living, and build net zero carbon homes. Health and Social Care integration to provide joined up care with strong links between social, primary and acute care. Require local authorities to monitor and account for the outcomes of young homeless people. Ensure there is a single system for Scots to raise concerns, whether it is about hospital treatment, primary or social care. Introduce a cap of one week for families with children and pregnant women living in B&B accommodation except in exceptional circumstances. Explore how Architecture and Design Scotland can support the development of high quality social housing and how space standards in Scotland compare with rest of the EU. Build on health and social care integration by ensuring that our NHS develops as a Community Health Service.

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