The Falkirk Council area Local Housing Strategy (2011-16) was approved by the Housing and Social Care committee on 28th November 2011 and full Council on 7th December 2011 and has now been submitted to the Scottish Government.
The Local Housing Strategy (LHS) was produced following the development of a Housing Need and Demand Assessment (appendix 1), a Local House Condition Survey (appendix 18) and extensive consultation (appendix 5). The HNDA was approved by the Scottish Government as robust and credible on 6th September 2011.
The first phase of LHS consultation took place from January to June 2011. The draft LHS was made available in August 2011 along with a short survey on proposed LHS outcomes. This started the second phase of consultation which closed in November 2011. The final approved LHS takes account of stakeholders’ views.
Why develop a Local Housing Strategy?
All Councils are required by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to prepare a LHS, to assess the need, demand and condition of housing across all tenures in their areas, then to identify problems and set in place actions to address them.
The first round of Local Housing Strategies (LHS) generally covered the time period 2004-9.
What is the background to the second LHS?
In 2008 the Scottish Government and the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) issued new guidance for the second round of Local Housing Strategies.
It was further emphasised in this guidance that the LHS would be the sole strategic document on housing issues so it would also cover homelessness, housing support (Supporting People) and fuel poverty.
The new LHS guidance emphasised links with development planning. This required a Housing Need and Demand Assessment which is an appendix to both the LHS and Local Development Plan.
The HNDA assessed current and future need across all tenures and types of housing (specialist and mainstream) over 10-15 years. This enabled supply targets to be set in the LHS which will inform the Local Development Plan on necessary land release to meet these targets (appendix 3).
The Scottish Government have highlighted that the LHS should be outcome focused (appendix 2) which means focusing on what Councils and their partners and stakeholders want to achieve over the period of the LHS.
What are the vision and key outcomes in the LHS?
The vision for the LHS is:
Homes for Now; Homes for the Future
The key outcomes for the Falkirk LHS are:
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Best use is made of existing and new housing (including empty homes and new affordable housing) to address local needs,
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Advice and information is provided on a range of affordable housing options to assist access to housing and prevent homelessness,
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Older people and those with disabilities are able to make informed housing choices including making required adaptations to their home,
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Housing support and other services are provided to help people live independently
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The condition and sustainability of housing is improved and measures put in place to address fuel poverty,
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All rented housing is managed effectively and efficiently.
How is the LHS monitored?
The report LHS outcomes (appendix 2) sets out the targets for each outcome along with times scales. In order to monitor progress, indicators have been set, data sources identified and baselines completed. Actions to progress LHS outcomes have been set out, along with resources and commitments.
The Scottish Government require an annual update on LHS outcomes. This will be made available on the Falkirk Council website LHS pages.