Highland Council report sets out housing challenges
While nearly half of applicants for council housing are for the Inverness area less than third of these are successful according to a report going to Highland Council’s housing and property committee.
Officers tell members in the Highland Housing Register Allocations Annual Monitoring Report that this is due to a lack of housing availability though the total number of housing and transfer list applications across the region for 2023-24, at 8338, was down slightly from the year before when that figure stood at 8951.
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The vast majority of these applications - 70.24 per cent - are from people not currently a tenant of a Highland Housing Register landlord.
The report states: “Just over half of these applicants are privately renting or living with family.
“Around nine per cent of households are defined as homeless under national homelessness legislation.
“The continuing need for smaller sized properties is clear. Half of all applicants are single people and 10 per cent are couples, although these figures vary across Highland.
“The highest demand for housing in terms of the number of applications remains Inverness (which 39.3 per cent of all applicants have selected as their First Choice), followed by Lochaber (10.6 per cent), and Skye, Lochalsh & Wester Ross (9.6 per cent).
“However, whilst nearly half of applicants are seeking housing in the Inverness area, the lack of housing availability means under a third (29.8 per cent) of lets are made there.”
The report adds: “The pressure on housing varies across Highland. This means that applicants whose need for housing is less acute can receive offers of housing more quickly in some areas than applicants with more acute housing needs in other areas.
“Analysis of the number applying for each house being let indicates that the pressure on social rented housing is greatest in Badenoch & Strathspey, followed by Inverness and then Nairn.”
The report suggests there is evidence that there would be benefits in increasing the promotion of the other options to social renting such as low-cost home ownership, mid-market rent, mutual exchange, and private renting and adds: “Efforts to increase the supply of affordable rented properties have been considered as part of the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028.”
A Strategic Housing Investment Programme from 2023-2028 was approved by the housing committee in January, committing to the delivery of an average of 500 new affordable homes per year, of which approximately 70 per cent will be for affordable rent and 30 per cent for intermediate affordable housing (e.g. low-cost home ownership or mid-market rent), in line with Scottish Government targets.
However a revised programme will be submitted in November taking into account the impact of reduced Scottish Government grant funding announced last December.
The report adds: “This report confirms the demand for social housing in Highland but also recognises that many housing applicants are willing to move into private sector housing if the supply increases in that sector
“Across Highland, 1738 households were housed in 2023/2024. The represents a decrease on last year’s number which stood at 1962.
The majority of lets continue to be into council housing (68 per cent of lets), followed by Albyn HS (14 per cent); Cairn HA (seven per cent); Lochalsh & Skye HA (six per cent); Lochaber HA (four per cent) and Caledonia ( one per cent). These percentage figures remain unchanged from the previous year.”
Councillors on the housing committee will consider the report when they meet on Wednesday.
