Scottish Housing Matters - Summer 2016

SCOTTISH HOUSING MATTERS

NUMBER: 71 SUMMER 2016

CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HOUSING SCOTLAND

INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER/ RECLASSIFICATION OF HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS/SCOTLAND’S PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR/TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS EDWARDSON/ HOUSING AND PRISON LEAVERS Scottish Housing Matters | 1

IN ISSUE 71 INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER

POLICY UPDATE

6-7

16-17

A WORD FROM THE CHAIR

4

WELCOME TO SCOTTISH HOUSING MATTERS

5

RECLASSIFICATION OF HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS CIH SCOTLAND 2016 CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION SCOTLAND’S PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR WHAT’S THE LATEST ON CIH MEMBERSHIP? SHAPING THE NEXT SOCIAL HOUSING CHARTER

2 | Scottish Housing Matters

8

A TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS EDWARDSON

11 12 14 15

18

WHAT DOES THE EU REFERENDUM VOTE MEAN FOR SCOTLAND?

LEARNING WITH CIH SCOTLAND

24-25

34-35 DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by

HOME FOR WALES CAMPAIGN

A PROFILE OF NICOLA BARCLAY

19 20

contributors in Scottish Housing Matters are not necessarily those of the Chartered Institute of Housing or the editor and should not be taken as representative of any of the above.

CIH Scotland,

RIGHT TO BUY BUT AT WHAT COST? HOUSING IN CUBA HOUSING’S ROLE IN REINTEGRATING PEOPLE LEAVING PRISON KEY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS: ENGLAND,

21 22

160 Dundee Street, Edinburgh EH11 1DQ scotland.policy@cih.org

26

NORTHERN ISLAND AND WALES

28

DIARY OF EVENTS

36

Scottish Housing Matters | 3

A WORD FROM THE CHAIR

challenges and solutions to support growth in the affordable housing sector.

We have our new government, with housing forming part of a substantial Communities, Social Security and Equalities Cabinet portfolio. Our new Minister for Local Government and Housing is Kevin Stewart. We were very pleased to secure an early interview with the Minister in which he shares his own housing experiences as well as his priorities for this administration.

The pace of policy changes can be expected to pick up again, and we will be keeping in close contact with all those who pledged their support for our Agenda for Change which outlines a series of recommendations to improve Scotland’s housing system across five key policy areas. Now is the time to start to realise those ambitions and all of us in the profession have a role to play in keeping this agenda in the spotlight.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that it will be assessing the classification of housing associations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This follows a decision last year to reclassify English housing associations from private non-financial bodies to public non-financial bodies. This is an important issue with potentially significant implications, so we will be keeping an eye on developments and informing members over the coming months.

WELCOME TO THIS SUMMER ISSUE OF SCOTTISH HOUSING MATTERS FROM NEW CIH SCOTLAND CHAIR, AMANDA BRITAIN We have a packed edition with a fascinating range of articles and features discussing the issues facing the housing sector and our members in Scotland.

Housing remains a firm political priority in Scotland. The commitment to increase the new affordable housing supply from 6,000 per year to 10,000 is a major success for all those lobbying for more investment. CIH played an important role in achieving this. Delivering that level of new supply will of course bring its challenges for the sector and for housing professionals; our members have told us about their concerns around land supply, infrastructure and planning. We will continue to work with members to identify

4 | Scottish Housing Matters

Along with many of you, I have fond memories of Douglas Edwardson who died in December last year in a tragic accident. This edition of SHM includes a tribute to Douglas, written by Jim Hayton. I would also like to add a personal tribute. Douglas believed that a good home made a difference to people’s health and wellbeing and demonstrated this through his support to this agenda in Aberdeenshire and through his roles with Care & Repair and ALACHO. I am sure that he would have supported CIH’s work to improve links between the prison service and housing, which are described in this edition.

It has almost become a cliché to say that we are facing a period of unprecedented change. But it is true – welfare reform, new powers under the Scotland Act, changes in the PRS, potential reclassification of housing associations and the implications of Brexit. We have to expect change and, as professionals, we have an excellent track record in responding and adapting to changes to legislation and policy, as well as seeking to influence developments. I am confident that we will show ourselves equally able to meet these new challenges – and to focus on the opportunities that will also come.

Amanda Britain CIH Scotland Chair

WELCOME TO THE SUMMER ISSUE OF SCOTTISH HOUSING MATTERS COLLEAGUES AND FELLOW MEMBERS There is a lot going on! This issue of SHM aims to provide you with expert comment on some of the big changes: a new look government, reclassification, new powers and Brexit.

We wanted to look back and celebrate our biggest conference ever, reflect on what was so good about it and to share the highlights. I was particularly pleased with our debates and live voting sessions, it was great to see so much passion in the room and in the sector! The innovation strand of conference was so popular that we will be focusing more on that in the year to come.

I was so pleased that Alison Thewlis MP agreed to tell us about her work on the Right to Buy committee enquiry in Westminster. It’s good to know that Westminster MPs are hearing positive stories of what works better in the devolved nations. Even further afield, our editor Tamsin Stirling talks about her trip to Cuba and some issues in the housing world internationally, which is excellent.

CIH Scotland is focused on making relationships with our new MSPs, Ministers with responsibility for housing and party spokespeople. We want to make sure that they understand the concerns you have and and the issues you face in your daily working lives. Nothing is more powerful than real impactful stories, so please share those with us as we meet you out and about.

I am very excited to be working with our new board and we have already had very productive discussions about how to offer more to you as members and keep in touch more.

Watch this space for some new membership benefits in the next few months, including free CPD opportunities and some special events. We also need to hear from you about what else you would like us to do on your behalf and we’ll be in touch soon to ask.

I am doing a CIH online qualification currently, to see what the experience of our customers is like and also to get more qualified! One of the best things about this is the student forum where I can read about the workplace experiences of my fellow students working in the front line of housing services. I totally admire the work that they do every day, in very tough circumstances. I think they have many great stories to tell and we’ll be making sure that they are heard by decision makers.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Scottish Housing Matters.

Annie Mauger Executive Director, Devolved Nations

Thanks to Mike Campbell, a new CIH Scotland board member, who has agreed to keep us up to date on developments in the PRS. We have a new project with Landlord Accreditation Scotland called LETWELL, which offers a CIH qualification as part of driving up standards.

That’s a part of our unique offer, supporting members from all tenures and helping to improve standards.

Scottish Housing Matters | 5

WRITTEN BY TAMSIN STIRLING, INDEPENDENT HOUSING CONSULTANT

INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER Scottish Housing Matters is delighted to have secured an interview with Kevin Stewart, Minister for Local Government and Housing, in the first few weeks that he has been in post.

Minister, how do you feel about taking on a portfolio that includes housing?

I was delighted to be appointed as Minister of Local Government and Housing and look forward to working in this hugely important area.

Communities flourish when people have good quality, warm, comfortable homes to live in and this, in turn, is central to boosting the economy, tackling inequalities and the protecting our environment. Housing has been, and will continue to be, a top priority for this government.

Could you share with readers something about your own housing experiences?

My family lived with my grandparents until I was four and then we were allocated a council house in the Sheddocksley area of Aberdeen. My parents later bought a house in the Middlefleld area of the city, where we still stay.

What do you think are going to be the most significant housing challenges for this administration?

We have set a bold and ambitious target to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of this Parliament.

6 | Scottish Housing Matters

This will require a lot of hard work and determination across the housing sector. We have listened to what our partners need to increase the pace and momentum of housing delivery and these discussions have helped us to develop our More Homes Scotland approach.

We have strong housing rights for homeless households in Scotland and there has been progress on prevention in recent years, but we can do more, improving on and developing the housing options approach. We also have challenges around the effects of UK Government welfare cuts on the funding of temporary accommodation and working to improve outcomes for those with the most complex needs. For example, some rough sleepers for whom providing housing may only be part of the solution.

What are your priorities – for your first 100 days and for the next year?

Within my first 100 days, I want to meet with key stakeholders from across the housing sector to hear firsthand what challenges they are facing. I am also looking forward to meeting people across Scotland whose lives have been changed for the better by our housing initiatives.

Over the next year, I would like to see progress on our Manifesto Commitments, for example in Fuel Poverty where there is a real issue for thousands of Scottish households who are struggling to pay their fuel bills and keep their homes warm. It is an area that all the political parties agree on and can put aside our differences. This Government will also fulfil our commitment to introduce a Warm Homes Bill to help tackle fuel poverty.

How will you work with others to ensure effective delivery of your priorities?

I will continue the good work with everyone involved in the housing sector to deliver our housing priorities. This of course means I want to work with a range of organisations and communities including those building homes, tenants’ groups, housing charities and landlords.

There’s no doubt in my mind that by bringing together our collective expertise and skills, and where possible our resources, we will be able to deliver more than the sum of our individual contributions. I strongly believe that collaboration with our partners is very important so that together we can achieve our vision that everyone in Scotland lives in a safe, warm, affordable home.

Your party has pledged to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years, of which 35,000 will be for social rent.

How do you plan to achieve that?

This Government has an excellent record on housing. In the last parliament, we exceeded our target of delivering 30,000 affordable homes of which 20,000 were for social rent. Our discussions with our housing partners across the sector have helped us to develop our More Homes Scotland approach.

This approach to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years is backed with investment of over £3 billion.

It includes a flexible grant and loan Housing Infrastructure Fund with up to £50 million available in 2016-17 to help

unlock strategically important housing sites and increase the scale of housing delivery. And it also includes a wide-ranging review of the planning system where improving housing delivery is a key priority.

We have increased subsidy benchmarks for affordable homes for rent delivered by councils and housing associations. We have also committed to an offer of five-year resource planning assumptions for councils following the 2016 Spending Review. This certainty of long term funding will allow councils to make long term plans to put in place affordable housing in their areas.

Is there any specific action or initiative you would like to see CIH Scotland take?

I want to continue the good relationship this Government has with CIH Scotland. I would particularly welcome any support CIH Scotland can provide in assisting local authorities and housing associations take action to accelerate the building of new homes across the country which will be of benefit to the people of Scotland.

Is there anything else you would like to say to SHM readers?

I’d like your readers to know that this Government recognises the importance of collaboration with our partners across the housing sector in Scotland. I recognise the crucial role that housing plays in strengthening the social and physical infrastructure required to make Scotland a fairer and more prosperous nation.

Scottish Housing Matters | 7

WRITTEN BY ALEX BRUCE, DI OF SCOTTISH PUBLIC AFFAIR ORBIT COMMUNICATIONS.

RECLASSIFICATION OF HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS

WRITTEN BY IAN BRENNAN, DIRECTOR OF REGULATION, FINANCE AND RISK, SCOTTISH HOUSING REGULATOR

Ian Brennan looks at the implications of the decision to reclassify English housing associations.

As noted by Mary Taylor in her article on the opposite page, in October 2015, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) re-classified English housing associations as public nonfinancial corporations. Amongst the reasons given were various regulatory powers in relation to housing associations that rest with the UK Government and are exercised through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).These include the power of the HCA to consent, (or withhold consent), to various actions and the HCA’s powers to make appointments to associations.

The judgment has no direct effect in Scotland, but it has provided the catalyst for a lively debate as to how a similar ruling might impact north of the border. And now that the ONS has announced its intention to review the position of Scottish Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), it is an opportune time to consider how the prospect of a reclassification might impact upon the Scottish sector.

In this context it is useful to look at what has happened in England since the ONS announcement. The UK Government’s immediate response was to declare its intention to legislate, in order to allow housing associations to become private bodies again ‘as soon as possible’.

To that end, the UK Government has passed the Housing and Planning Act which will result in a number of changes to the way in which providers will be regulated.

It has long been understood that there is a relationship between effective regulation and the pricing and availability of capital. It was therefore not a great surprise when one of the sector’s ratings agencies warned that the development

8 | Scottish Housing Matters

may be ‘credit negative’ and that it could result in a decline in the credit quality of housing associations.

When I started to consider the potential issues for Scotland, my thoughts turned to an exercise that we carried out last year. The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, through which the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is accountable to the Scottish Parliament, challenged us to demonstrate that we provide value for money.

We wanted to get a better understanding of the relationship between regulation and the pricing and availability of capital.

So we asked the major lenders to imagine a Scotland where there was no regulation of social housing. In particular we wanted to understand what would happen to pricing in this scenario.

Lenders told us that, in the absence of regulation, much more would depend upon each individual organisation’s financial health and its governance arrangements. So a much wider spread of pricing would be likely. And rates would generally be higher to reflect the absence of regulatory safeguards. On average, lenders told us that the absence of effective regulation would be likely to cost the RSL sector somewhere between 100 and 250 basis points (one per cent to two and a half per cent).

Applied across the sector’s total borrowing of approximately £3.5 billion this would put a positive gross value on regulation of between £35 million and £87.5 million per year.

But, as well as the cash benefit from regulation, lenders also stressed the role of regulation in making sure that finance is available for RSLs in the first place.

Most lenders need different types of lending within their loan book. Lenders are usually limited as to the full extent of exposure permitted to each sector. And there is normally a relationship between the degree of risk within a sector and the sector limit. Put simply, effective regulation allows lenders to infer lower risk within the regulated sector. This in turn means that capital is more likely to be made available to regulated bodies than to unregulated organisations.

IRECTOR RS AGENCY

RECLASSIFICATION: A SUMMARY In late 2015, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reclassified English housing associations from ‘private non-financial corporations’ to ‘public nonfinancial corporations’ – for statistical purposes. The ONS did this because it believed that the regulations governing housing associations in England gave the UK Government control over them to the extent that they could no longer be considered ‘private’ in terms of the concept (in accounting rules) of a ‘non-financial corporation’.

The ONS applies rules that stem from the UK’s membership of the EU, concerning the presentation of the national finances.

The immediate impact of this change was to cause the assets and liabilities of these associations to appear on the UK Government balance sheet. From the UK Government’s point of view this was unwelcome because it added to government debt. The National Housing Federation (NHF) became concerned that the impact of the ONS decision may prompt the UK Government to choose to take measures to reduce that debt, which could compromise the independence of housing associations.

Finally, lenders made the point that the benefits of regulation were closely linked to lenders’ perception of the strength of the regulatory regime. This incorporates not only a view of the experience and expertise of the Regulator, but also the legislative and regulatory framework.

Our impression is that lenders are broadly content with the current legislative and regulatory framework. As recently as December 2015, responding to the SHR consultation on the introduction of a review and appeals mechanism, the Council of Mortgage Lenders commented: “Whilst appreciating the reasons behind introducing a review/ appeals process we are firmly of the view that the SHR has to continue to be able to exercise its professional judgement and regulatory discretion to maintain lender confidence in the RSL sector.”

Since neither the UK Government nor NHF were enamoured with the ONS decision they agreed that measures were needed effectively to reverse it. The UK Government agreed to do this by introducing an element of deregulation. The UK Government amended what is now the Housing and Planning Act 2016, to abolish certain powers that the UK Government could exercise with respect to housing associations through the Homes and Communities Agency. The expectation is that this will mean housing associations can be reclassified back to ‘private nonfinancial corporations’ by the ONS. The ONS has announced that it will examine Scottish housing associations in the same way during 2016.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is working with the Scottish Government and others to put in place measures that will ensure that reclassification, should it occur, does not have any detrimental effect on Scottish housing associations.

This may involve deregulation. The SFHA has been keeping its members up to date and will continue to brief them as steps are taken and as progress is made.

Mary Taylor, chief executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

need to leave sufficient regulatory levers in place to maintain the confidence of lenders and thus ensure that RSLs have access to capital funding at rates that allow them to continue to develop social housing.

From our perspective, RSLs have worked hard to establish and maintain their excellent credit rating. Most have a clear understanding of the risks that they face and are adept at dealing with new issues as they arise. And lenders have in the past demonstrated an appetite to lend to RSLs provided they have a clear understanding of the risks and issues. We can therefore be confident that all parties – RSLs, lenders, the Scottish Government and SHR – will work constructively together to deal with any challenges and continue to serve the interests of tenants and future tenants.

The Scottish Government has given a clear lead in saying that it is committed to ensuring that RSLs continue to be classed as within the private sector. If this requires legislative changes to the regulatory regime, lenders will take a view on these and decide if they have implications for the credit rating of RSLs. In considering any changes Scottish legislators have a delicate balance to strike. They must do enough to persuade the ONS that RSLs should not be classified as public non-financial corporations. But they

Scottish Housing Matters | 9

RECLASSIFICATION ROLLERCOASTER Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations’ (GWSF) 67 member associations are bracing themselves for what could be a bit of a rollercoaster journey in the coming months and years. There’ll be angst and exasperation along the way, but we’ll hopefully be in a good place in the end.

Housing associations in Scotland perform some functions of a public nature but are a million miles from being public bodies. The main purpose of classification may be a statistical categorisation of debt, but the end result seems likely to be a kick in the teeth for the thousands of voluntary committee/board members who run Scotland’s associations.

And for GWSF’s membership – community controlled housing associations often with 100 per cent tenant representation on the committee – the notion of being a public body is bewilderingly alien. Many will feel their association came into being as a response to the failings of public bodies, much as we all work constructively with our local authority partners today.

The only good news is that, as far as we can see, reclassification as a ‘public non-financial corporation’

We are still awaiting the outcome of the ONS assessment of the classification of RSLs in Scotland but we can be fairly sure that reclassification will be on the cards. While the Scottish Government will be no more enthusiastic about the idea than the UK Government or the housing sector, we need to make sure that the desire to undo the actions of the ONS does not lead to unintended consequences.

As Ian has outlined, the financial value of good regulation is real and demonstrable. The SHR plays an integral role in mitigating financial risk and ensuring the sector remains viable for investment. These issues are emerging at a crucial time for the housing sector as the Scottish Government aims to increase the delivery of affordable housing to 10,000 new homes each year.

Maintaining the confidence of the financial sector will be key to meeting this ambition as we know that public finances are under constant pressure and the housing

10 | Scottish Housing Matters

wouldn’t have any impact on the finances or any other aspects of associations’ day to day operations.

So, for example, the ability to make surpluses wouldn’t appear to be in question.

Associations are already public bodies for procurement purposes, and we’re stuck with that.

But we don’t want to be pushed any further in that direction. Amongst other things, attracting new committee members will become especially difficult.

It’s not a situation our members will be willing to tolerate.

We expect that new Scottish Ministers too would want to see any reclassification reversed as soon as possible because of the significant impact on the Scottish Government’s borrowing capacity.

And so, as has happened in England, it’ll be a question of identifying appropriate deregulatory steps. Our aim will be to work together to find a solution which leaves housing associations, tenants, lenders and Ministers happy that our sector remains safe, reliable, high performing and entirely independent.

David Bookbinder, director, Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations

sector is being called upon to explore creative and innovative funding models.

We also need to bear in mind that the primary function of the SHR is to protect the interests of tenants, homeless people and others who use social landlord services.

Regulation is in place for a reason and we must ensure that in attempting to reverse the decision of the ONS, the Scottish Government strikes a balance which will allow a robust regulatory scheme to remain in place in the interests of both customers and financers.

CIH Scotland will be working closely with colleagues across the UK to better understand the impacts of reclassification in England and how this can inform the way forward in Scotland.

Ashley Campbell, policy and practice manager, CIH Scotland

WRITTEN BY GREIG PORTER, CONFERENCE AND EVENTS MANAGER, CIH SCOTLAND

CIH SCOTLAND 2016 CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION In case you missed it, this year’s annual conference and exhibition took place on 1-2 March at the stunning Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Scotland’s premier housing conference welcomed delegates from Shetland to Belfast to London and just about everywhere in between. A new look programme boasting a roster of expert speakers tackled key themes, including politics, welfare reform, wellbeing and innovation. Delegates enjoyed lively debates, keynotes and interactive masterclasses.

Here are a few highlights and key statistics from the conference: • • • • • • • • • • •

808 delegates over two days 424 delegates on Tuesday 1 March which was a record for the event!

45 speakers 26 sessions 92 exhibitors and sponsors 39% of delegates were from RSLs and 33% of delegates from local authorities 30% of delegates could be described as senior influencers 22% of delegates were frontline staff the most popular breakout session of the conference was the ‘Scotland Bill in detail’, a masterclass with Professor Nicola McEwen 828 miles – the furthest distance covered by a delegate to get to the Conference Centre and back 4000+ cups of tea and coffee served and finally…one piper piping!

“I thoroughly enjoyed attending my first ever CIH Conference. It was very interesting and I was made to feel very welcome by everyone.”

“The event was very informative and entertaining. It was a pleasure to meet with so many people from across the housing sector who are enthusiastic and committed to making a difference.”

So put the date for the 2017 conference in your diaries!

Our 2017 conference will take place on 14-15 March 2017 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

The images on the front and back covers of this issue of Scottish Housing Matters were taken at this year’s conference. The front cover image shows conference delegates with the ‘puffer fish’ touch screen, part of Blackwood’s Innovation Hub. The back cover is delegates on their way to sessions.

We had some great feedback: around 85% of delegates found the programme thought-provoking, the same proportion took ideas from the conference back to their organisation and nearly 90% would recommend the conference to others.

“One of the best conference programmes produced by CIH Scotland.”

Scottish Housing Matters | 11

WRITTEN BY MIKE CAMPBELL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BELVOIR EDINBURGH AND CIH SCOTLAND BOARD MEMBER

SCOTLAND’S PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR Mike Campbell provides an update on developments in the private rented sector.

Certainly not tinkering The former Property Ombudsman recently described the UK Government’s approach to the PRS in England as ‘tinkering’ and something of a scatter-gun approach. This is not a charge that could reasonably be levelled at the Scottish Government whose strategy for the PRS in Scotland ‘A place to stay, a place to call home’ was published in 2013.

The strategy aimed to improve and grow the PRS in Scotland by enabling a more effective regulatory system, targeting tougher enforcement action and attracting new investment within the broad vision of an aspiration for good quality homes, high management standards and inspiring consumer confidence.

The Private Housing (Tenancies) Bill and the Letting Agent Code of Practice (Scotland) Regulations were legislative measures that spun out from this strategy and completed their passage through Holyrood in early 2016.

Cool heads are needed now more than ever when it comes to the PRS in Scotland, as we move from an intensive period of consulting and legislating into and through an interim period of calm before implementation begins on a range of changes - the biggest seen for a generation.

12 | Scottish Housing Matters

Too much of the recent debate could be characterised as a pendulum swinging from side to side in favour of either landlords or tenants, when the reality for most landlords and most tenants is a shared aspiration for long term stable and affordable tenancies. It is a reasonable proposition to state that, in this aspect at least, there is more that unites landlords and tenants than divides when it comes to the desired outcome of a contractual relationship. You could be forgiven for missing that though, as statistics (don’t get me started on the usefulness of averages!) were traded back and forth as cast iron proof of one argument or another, only for the validity of those statistics to be challenged and, of course, rarely, if ever, changing hearts or minds.

So what are these once in a generation changes and is it possible to chart a course through the at times, choppy waters and reflect upon what is good or bad about them?

Some context first. One of the difficulties is that there is no single, uniform PRS in Scotland, yet by its nature, legislation is homogenously applied to the PRS in the big cities, small town Scotland, rural Scotland and the student markets, some of which function reasonably, others not.

The logical outcome of this is that legislation can be at the same time too heavy handed and not heavy handed enough when it comes to enforcement and eradicating bad practice in the PRS - the bane of every good landlord or letting agent’s existence, as well as those speaking up for tenants.

A new housing tribunal The introduction of a new housing tribunal within the private rented sector for resolution of landlord and tenant disputes, currently handled by the sheriff courts, has generally been welcomed. Some disappointment has been expressed by CIH Scotland, in particular, that plans are not yet similarly advanced for the housing tribunal to hear social housing cases which form the majority of the workload of the housing disputes heard in the Sheriff Court.

With uncertainty around location, resourcing and how many PRS cases are likely to be heard by the tribunal, compared to numbers heard in the Sheriff Court, time will tell if this new system offers the aimed for improved recourse when landlords and tenants are unable to settle their differences.

It is regrettable that budgetary constraint has led to a delay in the implementation of the tribunal to late 2017 or early 2018 both for its own sake, and for the inevitable knock-on delay to the introduction of the new PRS tenancy regime and the regulation of letting agents.

A simpler tenancy system The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill therefore will not take effect until sometime in 2018 at the earliest.

The stated aim of the legislation was to bring in a simpler tenancy system and offer greater stability and security of tenure to tenants in the PRS and ensure predictability of rent increases.

The new PRS tenancy will replace the current assured and short assured tenancy regime, with one of the main changes being the consigning to history of the so called ‘no fault’ ground for possession - essentially the ending of a tenancy,

subject to notice, at the end of the contractual term.

The initial fixed term of a tenancy of between six and 12 months will disappear and this is an area where the cool heads referred to earlier are particularly needed, since uncertainty remains about the effectiveness and scope of the new mix of mandatory and discretionary grounds for possession. Succeeding in an action on grounds of alleged anti-social behaviour, widely recognised as challenging in the social sector, is of particular concern to practitioners in the PRS. Equally there are those who argue that the new grounds for repossession actually undermine the stated objective of increasing security of tenure by placing too much emphasis on the intention of landlords to sell the property or move a family member, for example.

Rents In terms of increasing the predictability of rent, restricting rent increases to once a year will be introduced and was generally welcomed. In some markets in small town Scotland where rents have moved relatively little, some suggest, counter intuitively, that rents will go up across the board. In specific ‘hot spots’ local authorities can apply for rent pressure zone designation restricting the level of rent increases, but it is questionable if this measure actually addresses the original intent to tackle accessibility and affordability issues.

In the PRS, most research suggests that there is a broadly 50:50 split between landlords who self-manage and landlords who use a letting agent, so letting agent regulation is important and significantly, is welcomed by many agents, particularly those who are members of the Scottish Associations of Landlords Council of Letting Agents (CLA), who want to rid the sector of bad practice.

LEWTWELL is the brand new professional development programme delivered through a partnership between Landlord Accreditation Scotland (LAS) and CIH Scotland which incorporates learning which can lead to the CIH Level 3 Certificate in Letting and Managing Residential Property.

The programme, created specifically for Scottish letting professionals, takes full account of the Scottish Government’s ongoing development of regulation of letting agents and associated training requirement for specific staff within agencies. See page 36 for more details.

Scottish Housing Matters | 13

WHAT’S THE LATEST ON CIH MEMBERSHIP?

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE HANNAH, CIH CONTENT AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER.

At CIH, we know that housing professionals are on the front line of tackling some of the most important and challenging issues in our society. They need advice and support from people who understand their roles - that’s why we offer practical tools and guidance for every step of their housing journey.

Expanding the offer

Practical benefits

We regularly hear how much members value their access to free information and to training. We found last year’s Connect sessions with members very useful in informing what information and training to provide. This year, we have published five ‘what you need to know’ member briefings on topics as diverse as the Scotland Bill, the election results, reclassification of housing associations and the Planning Review. Alongside our training and events programme which is open to everyone, we held a conference specifically for CIH student members last December and a free member event on energy efficiency lessons and solutions in late June.

What do all of these member benefits mean? Why is CIH membership so important? We reckon this sums it up - you will:

Learning on the go New CPD modules are also now available to CIH members, including one on ethics and ethical competence.

These online-only courses give members the chance to learn more about important issues at a time that suits them, from the comfort of their home or office.

14 | Scottish Housing Matters

• • • • •

gain a competitive edge in your career with a range of free tools and training to support your personal and professional development be the first in the know when it comes to the latest developments in the industry be empowered to influence and have your say on the future of housing build relationships that count by becoming part of a community of like-minded professionals and sharing knowledge and experience at events throughout the year visibly demonstrate your professionalism by making a positive commitment to being the best you can be

CIH’s head of membership Oliver Humi said: “I’m really excited about our membership news. It’s great to be able to open these CPD modules to all members - I hope they will equip housing professionals with the skills they need to excel in their roles, particularly in this challenging environment where budgets are stretched.”

SHAPING THE NEXT SOCIAL HOUSING CHARTER WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BOAL, CHARTER AND REGULATION MANAGER, SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT.

The Scottish Government is seeking views on the current Scottish Social Housing Charter.

The Charter was introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010, which requires Ministers to set standards and outcomes that social landlords should be achieving for tenants and other customers through their housing activities.

It also requires Ministers to review the Charter standards and outcomes from time to time.

The Charter sets the outcomes and standards that all social landlords should be achieving for their tenants and other customers through their housing activities. The standards and outcomes do not add any new duties to social landlords.

Its purpose is to: • • •

give tenants, homeless people and other customers a clear understanding of what they should expect from a social landlord give landlords a clear understanding of what they should be delivering through their housing activities provide the basis for the Scottish Housing Regulator to monitor, assess and report on the performance of social landlords, and if necessary to require compliance with the Charter, and through the Regulator’s reports: • give landlords the information they need to achieve continuous improvements in their performance and in the value for money they provide • give tenants and other customers information on how their landlord is performing in relation to other landlords, so that they can hold the landlord to account.

We know that tenants and other customers greatly value the opportunity to participate in their landlords’ decisions and shape the way their landlord works and provides services for them.

During the course of the last year we have listened to what tenants, landlords and customers of social landlords have said about the Charter and the progress that is being made.

This has generally been encouraging and has told us that the Charter is having a positive impact on the quality of services being provided and the way tenants are being involved in this We are undertaking a wider consultation process to build on these initial findings and want to give as many people as possible an opportunity to provide their views on how the Charter is working and the impact it is having. Twelve charter review events were held across Scotland from late May to early July which brought tenants, landlords, board members and councillors together to discuss what the next Charter should look like. To find out more information about these events, please go to www.housingcharter.scotland.gov.uk The Tenant Information Service and Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland also undertook consultation on behalf of the Scottish Government with groups including tenants with learning or support needs, sheltered housing tenants, young people, black and minority ethnic (BME) tenants, disabled tenants, tenants in remote and rural communities and gypsy travellers.

A formal consultation commenced in early June 2016 and is running for 12 weeks.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at www.gov.scot/consultations/current Drawing on the consultation feedback, we will develop an updated version of the Charter and ask the Scottish Parliament to consider the changes and approve a new Charter from 1 April 2017.

Help shape the next Social Housing Charter by completing the consultation questionnaire.

Scottish Housing Matters | 15

WRITTEN BY ASHLEY CAMPBELL, POLICY & PRACTICE MANAGER, CIH SCOTLAND

POLICY UPDATE Politics The Scottish elections took place on 5 May, returning the SNP to power for a third term, albeit without an overall majority. While the polls predicted a tough time for Scottish Labour, many were surprised by their performance, losing a total of 13 seats and falling into third place, making the Scottish Conservatives the official opposition to the SNP. While the SNP do still hold a significant advantage over the other parties, we expect they will be faced with greater and more frequent challenges in the passing of legislation. As Ruth Davidson repeatedly pointed out in the run up to the election, her new job will be to question, to scrutinise and to hold the government to account for their actions.

Whatever your political persuasion, we can all be pleased with the volume of discussion and level of support for housing issues from every party. Our own housing hustings showed that while representatives views on how best to deliver a well balanced housing system may differ, they all agreed with the same basic principles – housing plays a central role in our lives, it builds communities, it contributes to health and wellbeing and we need to make sure we get it right.

Housing supply Increasing the supply of homes across Scotland is vital to meet the needs of our growing and changing population.

Last year, CIH Scotland, Shelter Scotland and the SFHA commissioned a piece of research which concluded that we must build 12,000 affordable homes every year to keep up with housing need.

We took this message to politicians of all parties and were greeted with positive responses all round. The SNP has committed to increasing the affordable housing target from 6,000 per year to 10,000. While this is some way short of the research findings, it is a significant increase and an ambitious target. The previous SNP Government underpinned this promise by agreeing to increase subsidy levels for social housing and mid-market rent and pledging £3 billion to the development of affordable housing over the life of the next parliament.

16 | Scottish Housing Matters

While the support for more affordable housing is undeniably positive, targets and funding are only part of the solution. We know from talking to our members that some of the biggest barriers to supplying new homes are land cost and supply, planning, infrastructure, skills and capacity.

The previous government had begun to take steps to address some of these issues, for example, the passing of the Land Reform Act and review of the planning system which is still underway. Our job now is to make sure the new government continues to listen to and support the housing sector to deliver on the ambitious new target.

The Scotland Act and welfare reform Its contents have been hotly debated since the Scottish independence referendum returned a ‘no’ vote in September 2014, but the Scotland Act was finally passed in March.

The Act will transfer significant new powers to the Scottish Government including certain elements of taxation, borrowing and social security. While some argue that the powers do not go far enough, it is clear that they do have the potential to significantly change the way that the housing sector in Scotland works, particularly in relation to the design and delivery of social security.

It is not yet clear exactly how the new powers will work in practice, how much it will cost to implement changes or when these changes might be introduced, but the Scottish Government will certainly be under pressure to make use of the powers that were so hard fought for. While the issue of taxation is likely to remain contentious – increasing taxation could raise funds for the provision of services, but only if the prospect does not deter higher earners – the SNP has set out intentions for a new social security system in Scotland. In the short term, it aims to: • • • •

effectively abolish the ‘bedroom tax’ by varying the housing element of universal credit enable universal credit to be paid directly to social landlords, and to offer twice monthly payments to recipients rather than monthly payments begin to increase Carer’s Allowance to the level of Jobseeker’s Allowance abolish the 84 day rule, under which children with disabilities and their families stop receiving Disability Living Allowance and Carer’s Allowance if they are in hospital for more than 84 days.

In the meantime, welfare reform, including universal credit, will continue to affect Scotland.

The private rented sector It’s been a busy few years for the private rented sector (PRS) as the Scottish Government seeks to improve the quality of homes and management in the sector. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 laid the grounds for regulation of letting agents. The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 will introduce a new, more secure tenancy for the PRS and

some rent control measures. Both of these are explored in more detail in a feature by Mike Campbell (pages 12-14).

Attempts to improve the sector are welcome, but the other chief aim of the Scottish Government’s strategy for the PRS is to increase supply through encouraging institutional investment. This task is being explored by PRS champion Gerry More who was appointed in 2014. So, what progress has been made?

A handful of build to rent developments have been springing up in Scottish cities, but the tenure has not taken off in the way that the Scottish Government had hoped. One of the final pieces of consultation to be published before the end of the last term was a proposal to introduce a rental guarantee scheme for PRS developments over 30 units.

The proposal was obviously at quite an early stage of development and lacking somewhat in detail, but it was encouraging to see the Scottish Government thinking outside the box. Whether or not rental guarantee could be the key to unlocking institutional investment in Scotland’s PRS, or whether such a scheme would prove to be a sound investment of public funds, is hard to say at this stage.

But it will be interesting to see whether the proposals are developed any further and crucially, where such a scheme would fit alongside existing UK Government schemes.

Health and social care integration At the beginning of April, the integration of health and social took a major step forward with 31 integrated joint boards now managing around £8 billion of health and social care resources. This is intended to transform the shape of health and social care. There’s been hard work in the background to make sure that the housing sector is at the table - with advice notes setting out requirements on preparing housing contribution statements and delivering housing funded adaptations - and there are indications of much improved collaboration around strategic planning. As a sector, we must ensure that the voice of housing continues to be represented and relationships between partners are strengthened.

Meet our new policy and practice co-ordinator Susanne Webster Susanne Webster has been appointed as the new policy and practice co-ordinator at CIH Scotland.

Susanne has been with CIH Scotland for a number of years and has worked in a variety of roles throughout this time.

She first joined CIH in 2008 as conference and policy administrator, after graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in politics.

As policy and practice co-ordinator, Susanne will support the development and delivery of evidence-based housing policy and practice and will help to promote the policy activities of CIH Scotland to members.

The creation of this new post will allow greater interaction with members so we can make sure that the knowledge and experience of housing professionals is reflected in the work that we do. With this in mind, Susanne has been inviting members to join policy and practice reference groups to share information and best practice examples on specific policy topic areas. If you would like to join a policy group or find out more, please get in touch: susanne.webster@cih.org Commenting on her new role, Susanne says: “I am very much enjoying my new role and looking forward to assisting our members to address the many challenges that lie ahead.”

Scottish Housing Matters | 17

A TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS EDWARDSON

WRITTEN BY JIM HAYTON, FORMER COLLEAGUE OF DOUGLAS AND CIH SCOTLAND BOARD MEMBER.

It was with great sadness that many of us heard of the tragic and untimely death of our colleague Douglas Edwardson, as a result of a road traffic accident on 16 December 2015.

Douglas will have been known to many in the housing profession, but particularly to colleagues in the local authority sector through his role at Aberdeenshire Council and ALACHO. An architect by training, Douglas first became director of housing and technical services at the former Banff and Buchan District Council and subsequently head of housing at Aberdeenshire Council. Colleagues at the council describe Douglas as a modest man who, despite many achievements in housing, never sought praise or public thanks for the work he did.

Among those achievements were leading the housing service through a robust SHR inspection programme with excellent results. Douglas oversaw the effective management of some 13,000 council houses and the delivery of an average of 200 new homes each year.

In his too short a time at Aberdeenshire Council, he developed and delivered a supportive and preventative homelessness service, and established a nationally recognised tenant participation framework.

Douglas also sat on the care and repair national board and was a long term member and past chair of ALACHO, the representative body for Scotland’s chief housing officers, from 2010 to 2012. It was in this

18 | Scottish Housing Matters

latter capacity that I got to know Douglas well, when I became ALACHO’s policy adviser.

With only one member of staff, the relationship between the chair and adviser is naturally a close one, and Douglas and I would spend much time discussing current issues and future agendas. He treated every issue or challenge with humour and equanimity, for which I was always grateful. As chair, Douglas was also responsible for my annual performance appraisal.

Due to our being long term colleagues, I’m sure he found the process a bit uncomfortable, responding by awarding implausibly high ratings!

We would regularly meet for a couple of hours before ALACHO meetings in a nearby coffee shop to discuss that day’s proceedings. On these occasions, the chat would frequently turn to non-work matters, and the importance Douglas placed on his family and home life became clear to me. He was immensely proud of his wife, daughter and two sons and their respective achievements, and I looked forward to hearing how each was doing at our subsequent meetings.

Without exception, friends and colleagues regarded Douglas Edwardson as a lovely man and a wellrounded human being. He is a sad loss to the housing profession, even more to his family and close friends, and will be sorely missed.

Jim Hayton, May 2016

WRITTEN BY KEVIN HOWELL, DIRECTOR, CIH CYMRU

CAMPAIGN Kevin Howell provides a taste of the Homes for Wales campaign, its simple message and the impact to date.

There is a housing crisis in Wales. Whilst we acknowledge the situation is not on the same scale as the crisis in London, there are still a significant number of people struggling to afford a decent home and we must do more to meet the housing needs of our growing and changing population.

We had a plethora of new housing regulations, laws and opportunities in the fourth term of Welsh Government. We are seeing positive outcomes already, with impressive results, including the new homelessness prevention duty which is leading the way for the rest of the UK and beyond. Yet we still have a lot of catching up to do to meet current and future housing need, a backlog to fill, and as estimated by the late Alan Holmans (academic expert on assessing housing need), 12,000 new homes a year to build.

can solve alone; together we have a stronger voice to end it.

The campaign message was simple: end the housing crisis and build a stronger Wales. It also called on the next Welsh Government to publish an ambitious plan for housing as part of the new programme for government. Support for the campaign grew much wider than the initial seven organisations, with representatives from across Wales, including a variety of celebrities, backing the campaign. All the main political parties that stood in the elections for the current assembly term signed up to the campaign; however manifesto commitments demonstrate that they have different plans for how to solve the crisis.

One of the highlights of the campaign was the Homes for Wales Rally on 4 March 2016. Almost 700 people gathered at the Senedd to hear from a variety of speakers and then marched to Cardiff city centre. We were even joined by a couple of dogs! The rally gained national coverage, and the most important part of the day was that it engaged with the general public, the people that were voting and helped them understand why good quality housing is so integral to everyone in Wales.

Has the campaign been a success? It’s still early in this fifth assembly term, but the initial signs are good. Manifesto pledges indicate the affordable housing target will be raised from 10,000 last term of government, to 20,000 this term. At CIH Cymru, we will be using our voice to influence government policy to help ensure that we end the housing crisis.

The Homes for Wales campaign is a coalition of partners, led by seven organisations: Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, Community Housing Cymru Group, Shelter Cymru, Welsh Tenants, Home Builders Federation, Residential Landlords Association and the Royal Town Planning Institute. The housing crisis is not something that any player in the industry Scottish Housing Matters | 19

A PROFILE OF NICOLA BARCLAY CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HOMES FOR SCOTLAND Please could you tell Scottish Housing Matters readers a bit about your background I graduated in 1993 with a degree in town and country planning, in the depths of a recession, and found a job selling houses for Wimpey Homes. I gradually worked my way up through various home builders (Stewart Milne, Bryant, Taylor Woodrow, AWG), first in the sales and marketing department, then into land and planning and ended up as land director at MacFarlane Homes before another recession hit the entire industry. I have worked for Homes for Scotland (HFS) since then, barring a three year stint at Scottish Futures Trust. I returned to HFS a year ago as director of planning and was promoted into the role of chief executive in February, after the departure of the previous incumbent.

What particularly attracted you to the role of chief executive at Homes for Scotland?

Given my variety of experience, I know this industry inside out. I know that those working in this industry are really passionate and professional about what they do and that I’m well positioned to support them. I am naturally a strategic thinker and like to consider the medium and longer term impacts that decisions made today will have on our industry. I also love a challenge and working with people collaboratively to remove the hurdles that get in the way of delivering more homes on the ground.

What do you see as the main barriers to building more homes in Scotland?

I could list lots of operational challenges such as planning or utilities connections, but fundamentally it comes down to people’s perceptions of home building. It receives so much negative publicity in the media and communities also feel disengaged from the process of deciding where housing is located. The lack of resources in local government also concerns me. When budgets are cut, it is all too easy to look 20 | Scottish Housing Matters

to the private sector to plug the gap. The lack of resources within local authorities also impacts on their ability to process planning applications, and other technical consents, quickly and efficiently.

And what action can Homes for Scotland take to overcome these barriers?

If we’re going to fix the perception of home building, we need to focus on the end users, those in need of a home, regardless of what tenure it is.

So public and private sectors have got to work together to promote the positive benefits of home building. This requires partnership with government at all levels, so we will be looking to engage with all of the MSPs in the new parliament, as well as councillor candidates in the run-up to next year’s local elections, as they have a key role to play in helping to balance concerns over development with need in their areas in order to facilitate delivery.

Do you think that there are issues on which Homes for Scotland and CIH Scotland could work more closely together?

I am a strong believer in collaboration, and the power of shared voices. I am keen to work closely with CIH and all other organisations in the housing arena as we enter this new political cycle and try to make a real difference to people’s lives.

Are you a CIH member? If not, might CIH welcome you as a member in the near future?

As the head of another membership body, I think it is more important that I work closely with CIH and all other organisations in the housing and development sphere. This way we work reciprocally and support each others agendas, without trying to influence them unduly. We all have our own roles to play in this vital space.

RIGHT TO BUY BUT AT WHAT COST?

WRITTEN BY ALISON THEWLISS, MP FOR GLASGOW CENTRAL

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, shares her experience of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee Inquiry Housing Associations and the Right to Buy. It’s been a very revealing experience watching the progress of the Housing and Planning Bill in Westminster, not least because the debate is in a very different place to where we are in Scotland.

I approach the debate on right to buy from my experience of being a Councillor for eight years in the East End of Glasgow, seeing housing associations with significant waiting lists unable to prevent right to buy sales, knowing that often these properties would come back on to the market in the private rented sector at higher rents. The frustration of housing associations, their committees, and most of all local people who could not afford private lets, led me to believe that the right to buy has come at significant cost to ordinary people.

When the communities and local government committee were considering who to invite to give oral evidence to the enquiry, I suggested we take evidence from Scotland, as the Scottish Government had legislated to abolish the right to buy. This news had clearly not reached Westminster; several of my colleagues on the committee seemed taken aback, and they were keen to find out more. I am very grateful to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations for the evidence they provided, which marked a clear difference in the policy approaches north and south of the border.

During the evidence sessions, it was clear that there are a number of issues with the right to buy policy in England. A cross party panel composed of representatives from very different councils in urban and rural areas identified concerns about maintaining the supply of socially rented accommodation, loss of stock in rural areas, significant pressures in London and the cost of replacing homes on a like-for-like basis.

There was particular concern expressed by the committee that homes sold under the right to buy often end up in the private rented sector, which in terms of housing benefit costs ends up costing the public purse more than if those homes had remained in the public sector.

The committee noted with interest in their report the use of pressured area status in Scotland, which they felt might be of use in England. Housing providers in England are allowed to exempt rural areas and specialist housing, but in my view this isn’t flexible enough to cover the range of demand across England.

There were also concerns that large national housing associations may choose to replace homes sold under the right to buy in expensive areas with homes in cheaper areas. This, of course, makes dealing with demand even more difficult. The evidence remains that there has not been sufficient one-for-one replacement, and those giving statements to committee seemed sceptical that this was achievable under the proposed reinvigoration of right to buy.

It remains a source of great frustration to me to watch the shape of the debate in Westminster, and to feel that the value of social rented homes is not acknowledged by the UK Government, or indeed by the official opposition. There is so much greater focus put on home ownership, rather than understanding that, for many people, renting is a positive choice. My Gran recently left her home of fifty-two years to go into care; she was a council tenant all that time, raising her family and living a happy life in the certainty of secure tenure. It was as much her home as if she had bought it. My late grandfather, a West of Scotland presbyterian socialist, would be very proud that someone else is seeing the benefit of that home, without a penny changing hands.

Notes:

Communities and Local Government Committee Report on Housing Associations and the Right to Buy

The housing association sector and the Right to Buy inquiry evidence is listed here Scottish Housing Matters | 21

WRITTEN BY TAMSIN STIRLING, INDEPENDENT HOUSING CONSULTANT

HOUSING IN CUBA I was lucky to be able to travel to Cuba in March this year.

While the trip was not a housing study tour, we visited a number of cities, towns and rural areas during our travels and saw a variety of house types, just some of which you can see in the pictures on this and the following page.

Cuba has a population of around 11 million people with just over 2 million living in Havana, the capital city. Cuba has a very particular recent history. The communist revolution in Cuba took place in 1959 and it remains as one of just five communist countries on the planet.

All Cubans have ration books, with the state providing about 12-14 days worth of basic foodstuffs each month. There is a single set of school uniforms across the island, red for the youngest children, ochre for the middle children and blue for the oldest children. Education at all levels is free and the country has a very high literacy rate. There is no advertising for products at all, but there are many government propaganda posters such as the one below which says ‘blockade the largest genocide in history’ (referring to the American embargo on Cuba).

22 | Scottish Housing Matters

When it comes to housing, one of the tenets of the revolution was that everyone had the right to a home. Shortly after the revolution Fidel Castro’s government expropriated all private property. Many people became prospective home-owners, paying a reduced rent to the government for a finite period of time after which title was transferred to the tenants who then became owners. Home-ownership was conceptualised as a government service, with housing used to promote equity. Homes could not be sold on the open market; for half a century people could only swap homes in a bureaucratic process known as permuta (exchange) which involved finding properties of roughly equal value and then getting state approval to transfer the title. No mortgages were available.

In 2011, Raul Castro opened up the private real estate market for first time since the revolution and took steps to reduce the role of government in the transfer of housing between owners. And now property developers are circling to get their hands on the real estate of Havana, seeing a lot of money to be made. Meanwhile many Cubans do not have decent homes to live in.

Some snippets about housing in Cuba:

• • • • • • • •

over 85% of Cubans own their home 1.3 million homes were built between 1959 and 1993 in the 1970s and 80s, microbrigades consisting of 33 people each who were released from work to build played a significant role in constructing apartments the 1970s and 80s also saw pre-fabrication with construction of many soviet-style apartment blocks the ‘special period’, which followed the collapse of the eastern block, saw a collapse of large-scale building due to acute shortages of materials many households live in multi-generational homes the shortfall in housing supply is estimated variously to be between 500,000 and 1 million homes in Havana, buildings in which people are living collapse on a regular basis due to disrepair.

So while Cuba is very different to the UK in very many ways, the main housing problems of shortage and disrepair are very much a shared experience.

Scottish Housing Matters | 23

WRITTEN BY ALEX BRUCE, DIRECTOR, ORBIT COMMUNICATIONS

WHAT DOES THE EU REFERENDUM VOTE MEAN FOR SCOTLAND? So the UK has voted to leave the European Union, throwing the country into political, economic and constitutional crisis.

As was widely predicted prior to the vote, the vote to leave the European Union has provoked a short term shock to the UK economy, particularly in terms of currency exchange rates, share values and the UK’s international credit rating. Leave campaigners continue to argue that the longer term economic gains of leaving the EU will outweigh this short term instability, but there are also worrying signs of the potential for significant job losses in the longer term, particularly in financial services.

At a political level, the Leave vote has provoked an immediate leadership crisis within both of the main UK political parties. Even prior to the vote, it was inconceivable that David Cameron would survive as Prime Minister. Boris Johnson immediately seized the opportunity to make his own leadership bid but quickly withdrew this after Michael Gove stated his intention of standing. The Conservative party has been deeply divided by the referendum campaign with every prospect that whoever becomes the leader will face a tough challenge in seeking to restore unity within party ranks. There is a likelihood of fierce political infighting over the precise nature of a negotiating position on Brexit in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn faces a vote of no confidence in his leadership from the overwhelming majority of the Labour parliamentary party. There will be a new leadership contest within Labour as well, although it currently seems unlikely that an alternative candidate would be able to win the support of a majority of Labour party members, most of whom fiercely maintain their loyalty to Corbyn’s leadership.

24 | Scottish Housing Matters

With a majority vote for Remain in Scotland, there has been an immediate spike in support for Scottish independence.

However, it is important to remember that it was predominantly the economic implications of independence which swung the outcome in favour of ‘No’ in 2014.

The issue now for Scotland is it lies stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nicola Sturgeon has secured a mandate from the Scottish Parliament to seek negotiations with the EU institutions and other EU Member States to explore how Scotland could preserve its relationship with the EU as the UK prepares to leave.

electorate’s economic instincts are now trumped by a sense that Scotland no longer has much in common politically with the rest of the UK – and a willingness to go through even greater economic pain to be able to strike out on its own path with the longer term aim of rejoining the European Union as an independent country.

The challenge here is that, although Nicola may receive a warm welcome from EU politicians, the devil of any future arrangement lies in the detail. Ultimately, just as the remaining EU Member States cannot be seen to give the UK an easy ride following its decision to leave, giving Scotland a preferential deal on EU membership which fudges the economic criteria of membership would set a hugely dangerous precedent.

No matter how sympathetic other EU Member States may feel towards Scotland’s predicament, those, in particular those who have joined most recently, will be unlikely to countenance a situation whereby Scotland forgoes the economic pain they had to go through when they acceded to the EU. In the current context, the economic case for Scottish independence is on even shakier ground than it was prior to the Brexit vote. In pure financial terms, Scotland’s trade relationship with the rest of the UK is exponentially stronger than with the European Union. The outcome of a second Indyref will largely come down to whether the Scottish

Scottish Housing Matters | 25

WRITTEN BY LIZ COOPER, POLICY MANAGER (HOUSING AND WELFARE), SCOTTISH PRISON SERVICE

HOUSING’S ROLE IN REINTEGRATING PEOPLE LEAVING PRISON Stable accommodation is a major factor in the resettlement of people leaving prison and in obtaining employment.

The 2013 report of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) organisational review Unlocking Potential, Transforming Lives, recognises this. It concluded that, in order to improve the outcomes of those leaving its care, it is critical that SPS develop closer working relationships with criminal justice, social work, Police Scotland and third sector providers, as well as with universal services such as housing, health and social care. To achieve this, SPS has had to reach out beyond the prison walls to the community. The organisation has therefore appointed a policy manager (housing and welfare) to work with a wide range of partners to support the development of a housing pathway for both transition into prison and return into the community. In addition, 41 throughcare support officers are providing a voluntary throughcare service for those serving short term sentences across 10 establishments and there is a public social partnership (PSP) at HMP Low Moss. Both play a vital role in providing advocacy and motivational support during the move from custody to the community and for a period of time following release, to ensure sustained engagement with services.

A survey of prisoners, undertaken by SPS in 2015, showed that, of those who responded (55%), 45% had lost their accommodation when they were imprisoned. 29% did not know where they were going to be living when they were liberated. Those leaving SPS care who have every intention of desisting from crime, can very quickly return to prison

26 | Scottish Housing Matters

when they are unable to access housing and other services.

This can often be a conscious decision and some crimes are committed to ensure that the perpetrator has a roof over their head and can feel safe and secure from threat and harm. This does not seem to constitute social justice in 21st century Scotland and results in a significant cost to the public purse.

Homeless applications from those leaving prison accounted for 6% of the total number of homeless applications made across Scotland during 2014/15. This figure is very likely to represent under-reporting. Some prison leavers may not wish to engage due to past experiences, while others may be asked to leave a home by family and friends shortly following liberation and will therefore not be recorded as homeless on release from prison. The figures broadly show that approximately 1/3 of prisoners have nowhere to stay or live on liberation.

People leaving prison are often concerned that being offered unsuitable hostel accommodation may draw them back into an offending pattern through contact with other exoffenders. Although there is not conclusive evidence, there is increasing consensus that rehousing those leaving prison in mainstream, rather than hostel, accommodation will reduce re-offending (Sapounaet al, 2011). This approach can also increase positive outcomes in other areas of their lives, such as health, employment, education, financial inclusion and social links with their community.

on release. Ensuring that every person gets access to the appropriate service is therefore a key challenge for SPS and its partners.

Alison Watson, SHELTER, Tony Cain, ALACHO, Marian Reid, CIH Scotland and Colin McConnell, SPS

The Scottish Government published relevant research in January 2016, Housing and Reoffending: Supporting People Who Serve Short-term Sentences to Secure and Sustain Stable Accommodation on Liberation. It concludes that many people who serve short-term prison sentences in Scotland do not currently receive the housing-related services they need. It also highlights the lack of a consistent pattern or level of housing-related service provision across Scotland, with no overall strategic approach. This may mean that two individuals with very similar needs may experience a different ‘housing journey’, with very different outcomes. This apparent postcode lottery can result in individuals losing their home, losing possession, getting into rent arrears and having difficulties accessing and securing suitable accommodation

The time now seems right for housing and the prison service in Scotland to join forces to examine how a wider partnership approach to reintegrating people leaving prison could yield positive results.

Coming together to tackle the housing elements of reoffending makes sense for housing and for the prison service.

Scottish Government statistics for 2014/15 show repeat homelessness for those leaving prison as 21%. It can cost a local authority upwards of £15,000 to handle a typical homeless case, with costs in the region of £83,000 arising from a more complex case. Overall, the economic and social costs of reoffending to the Scottish economy are immense.

In 2012, Audit Scotland estimated that reoffending cost around £3 billion a year.

Finding and sustaining accommodation can be problematic for anyone leaving prison, but evidence has highlighted four groups that face particular barriers: • • • •

remand prisoners and those on very short-term sentences women young people those who were homeless on entering prison.

In order to address these issues SPS, CIH Scotland, Shelter (Scotland) and ALACHO (Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers) co-hosted a strategic event ‘Developing a Partnership Based Approach to Homelessness and Reintegration for People Leaving Prison’ at the SPS College on 15 April 2016. Its purpose was to bring together professionals from SPS and housing organisations to start discussions on developing and delivering a shared ambition and to explore the shape of future strategic engagement.

The event was just the start of a journey; it was evident on the day that there is a real appetite to make a difference.

Over the next few months, partners will be working together to look at: • • •

the data and economics around homelessness and reoffending the options for delivering housing advice and homelessness services in prisons, and the processes and standards that need to be put in place to resolve the most challenging issues.

A further partnership event is planned for early autumn 2016.

Liz Cooper can be contacted on 0131 244 2587 or elizabeth.cooper@sps.pnn.gov.uk

In Scotland, we have some of the most progressive homelessness legislation in Europe. We also have an increasingly well-developed housing options approach to housing information and advice. Nonetheless, a key finding of the 2015 Scottish Government research into housing and reoffending, for people serving short term sentences, found that there ‘was no consistent pattern or level of housingrelated service provision across Scotland, with gaps in availability and consistency of services: on imprisonment; during a sentence and approaching release; and on, and following release.’

The joint seminar mentioned above generated an enthusiastic discussion and a willingness to improve pathways and outcomes for people leaving prison. The housing partner agencies along with the Scottish Prison Service must now decide on how to make these aspirations tangible.

Marian Reid, deputy director, CIH Scotland, marian.reid@cih.org With thanks to the Scottish Prison Service for background data.

Scottish Housing Matters | 27

WRITTEN BY MELANIE REES, HEAD OF POLICY, CIH

KEY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS: ENGLAND What does the future hold for housing policy in England?

With housing policy devolved to the four UK nations, you would expect to see a fair degree of divergence over time. For example, Scotland has repealed the right to buy and Wales is likely to follow suit in the near future. But in England the right to buy is being extended to include housing association tenants following a voluntary deal struck in September 2015.

This divergence is further illustrated by the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which received Royal Assent on 12 May the first legislation to be passed under the ‘English votes for English laws’ provisions. It contains a number of measures which will have a significant impact on housing – and social housing in particular – once implemented. Highlights include: •

Boosting access to home ownership by building 200,000 starter homes by 2020 aimed at first time buyers aged 23-40. Although homes will come with a 20 per cent discount, in many areas these will only be affordable for those on above average incomes. Analysis carried out by Shelter suggests that a buyer would need, on average, an income of £50,000 and a deposit of £40,000 to afford a starter home. In London this rises to an income of £77,000 and a deposit of £98,000.

28 | Scottish Housing Matters

•

•

•

CIH’s big concern is that, in many cases, starter homes will not be additional new homes, over and above those that would have been built anyway, and will be provided instead of affordable homes to rent. This may benefit one group - first time buyers, but at the direct expense of another - those waiting for social housing.

The sale of higher value council homes as they become vacant to compensate housing associations for the discount they have paid to tenants exercising the right to buy, replace the high value home sold and establish a brownfield land register. CIH analysis shows that the numbers don’t stack up and, unless additional funding is provided by government, up to 7,000 council homes per year could be lost.

The introduction of ‘pay to stay’ for ‘higher earning’ social tenants - mandatory for councils but voluntary for housing associations. CIH’s view is that the thresholds above which rent will be increased are too low and that many households who cannot reasonably be classed as ‘high earners’ will be affected. For example, a couple who each work 40 hours per week on the new national living wage will earn £29,952 per year, thereby only just falling short of the £31,000 threshold. The policy will potentially lessen incentives for working tenants to increase their income, by reducing the amount of any extra earnings that they are allowed to keep, and will be both complex and expensive for councils to administer.

•

Provisions for fixed term tenancies for council tenants.

Following amendments the maximum tenancy length has increased from five to ten years, or longer in the case of households containing a child under nine. CIH had made the case for councils to have more flexibility around this as, if fixed term tenancies are going to be used more widely, it is vital that decisions about how they are used can be made locally. CIH also considers that councils should retain some freedom to continue offering secure (‘lifetime’) tenancies where necessary, as undoubtedly there will be occasions where this is simply much more appropriate than a fixed term.

CIH’s biggest concern is the on-going loss of social rented housing, a problem which will be exacerbated by some of the measures in the Act - including the sale of higher value council homes, if these are not replaced, and starter homes, if these are included on sites instead of affordable homes to rent. CIH research has shown that taking right to buy sales, higher value sales and conversions to affordable rent into account, there are likely to be 370,000 fewer homes for social rent by 2020, compared to 2012 levels.

CIH will be working closely with members in England over the coming weeks and months to gather evidence on the impact of these policies on the ground – so watch this space!

Melanie can be contacted at melanie.rees@cih.org

Scottish Housing Matters | 29

WRITTEN BY JUSTIN CARTWRIGHT, POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER, CIH NORTHERN IRELAND

KEY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS: NORTHERN IRELAND Justin Cartwright, provides a whistle-stop tour around the tenures.

Home-ownership In the last issue of Scottish Housing Matters, Nicola McCrudden noted ‘Despite some cautious signs of recovery, the Northern Ireland (NI) housing market remains very much bruised post-recession.’

Nevertheless there are green shoots of recovery. In the third quarter of 2015, 5,119 homes were sold, up 127% from quarter three in 2008. The number of first-time buyer and mover loans has increased, the number of mortgage repossession cases has decreased and there is a gradual increase in house prices.

Having said that, the number of homes being built remains far fewer than needed; 11,177 new homes are needed each year between 2008 and 2025, so far during that period, an average of 5,516 homes have been built each year. The Housing Supply Forum report, published in January 2016, concludes:

“Failure to take action to rectify this situation will result in a number of negative consequences. These include a lack of sufficient decent housing for our people, the possible creation of another housing “bubble” and a failure to realise the broader economic advantages of an active house building sector.”

30 | Scottish Housing Matters

The recommendations of the Forum include the following: • • • • •

consideration should be given to adopting a policy of ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ a view to targets being set for the release of publically owned land increased encouragement and support from government for joint ventures between housing associations and private developers, including ‘design and build’ housing policy should encompass the sector as a whole, not its constituent parts examine the potential for the establishment of a virtual delivery unit.

The rented sectors One in five households in Northern Ireland now rent privately.

The Department for Social Development is undertaking a review of the private rented sector. CIH Northern Ireland is calling for mandatory licensing of landlords and letting agents, mandatory written tenancy agreements and low-cost mediation and adjudication services for disputes arising from private tenancies. However, many stakeholders are not in favour of licensing. A landlord registration scheme is already in place, with 46,000 landlords registered on 1 March 2016, providing details of over 97,500 tenancies.

Licensing of HMOs with a fit and proper person test is to be introduced by the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Bill 2016, which received royal assent on 12 May 2016.

Housing investment in social and affordable housing has a relatively high priority although from overall budgets that are much reduced compared with five years ago. Net capital investment for 2015/16 is £90million, down from £96million last year, but still above the average of the previous three

years. In 2014/15, 1,658 new social homes were delivered, the second highest figure over the four year programme for government period, meaning that the government met its target of 6,000 new social homes during the term of government. For 2015/16, the target was to provide 1,950 new social and affordable homes; this was challenging as this number has been achieved only once in recent years (2013/14).

A new housing product has been launched. Rent to Own enables tenants to rent the new home of their choice for three years. At the end of this period, they have the option to buy their home either through co-ownership or through a traditional mortgage. If they do so, they receive a rent rebate of 25% towards a mortgage deposit on their property.

Slow progress is being made towards achieving the decent homes standard in Housing Executive stock; the target date is 2021. A recent report from the Housing Executive asset commission showed that ÂŁ6.7billion of investment is needed over the next 30 years to repair and improve the homes owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Report & Recommendati

A challenging issue is that investment had become dependent on capital receipts from house sales and right to buy; the numbers of homes being sold is currently minimal. The NIHE is now preparing a new five-year asset management strategy based on the findings of the report.

January 2016

Justin can be contacted at justin.cartwright@cih.org

Report & Recommendations January 2016

Scottish Housing Matters | 31

WRITTEN BY WRITTEN BY JULIE NICHOLAS, POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER, CIH CYMRU

KEY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS: WALES Julie Nicholas talks tenancy reform, politics and regulation.

Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 In January 2016 the Act received royal assent, paving the way for whole-scale tenancy reform.

Renting Homes introduces two kinds of occupation contract: • •

secure contract (which is periodic) standard contract (which can be periodic or fixed term, as parties wish)

The ‘big bang’ transfer date for current tenancies is likely to commence after Autumn 2017; ‘community’ landlord tenancies will transfer onto secure contracts and ‘private’ landlord tenancies onto standard contracts, with any current arrears transferring to the new tenancy.

The Act provides for 4 kinds of term within the contract: 1.

2.

3.

4.

‘Fundamental terms’ ‘Supplementary terms’ Terms relating to ‘key matters’ ‘Additional terms’

Community landlords can give an introductory standard contract (a periodic standard contract) for 12 months which can be extended to 18 months. All landlords will need to give a written statement of the contract within 14 days of the occupation date (section 31).

Significant changes to tenancies are included in the Act regarding strengthening succession rights, reducing retaliatory evictions, recovery of abandoned properties

32 | Scottish Housing Matters

without recourse to the court and tackling prohibited conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance. The Welsh Government will produce model contracts and guidance that will include all relevant fundamental and supplementary terms for use by landlords and tenants, both will be available in advance of the tenancy transfer date.

CIH Cymru has produced a factsheet giving more detail on the content of the Act which is available for CIH members here.

Welsh Assembly results Labour won 29 of the 60 seats, so retains its place as the largest party in the Senedd, albeit with one less seat that in the last assembly term.

Plaid Cymru shifted the Conservatives into 3rd place with 12 seats. The Conservatives took 11 seats, whilst the Liberal Democrats lost all but one of their seats; Kirsty Williams increased her majority by 9% to retain her assembly seat, stepping down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats shortly after the election. UKIP entered the Senedd for the first time with 7 seats, all won on the regional lists through which 20 assembly members are elected using a form of proportional representation.

Increasing housing supply featured strongly in most of the five party manifestos, following the successful Homes for Wales campaign, to which all of the major parties signed up to support the pledge to end the housing crisis. Labours’ manifesto commitment of 20,000 affordable new homes is considered likely to be the next housing supply target for the five year term. This more or less meets the most recent independent assessment of housing need by the late Alan Holmans, published in 2015, which concluded that 4,200 new ‘non-market’ homes a year are needed.

It is anticipated that a bill prepared before the election to end the right to buy and right to acquire in Wales will be one of the first to be presented to the new assembly, the proposal having featured in both the Labour and Plaid Cymru manifestos.

We expect to see the consensus-based approach to housing and regeneration continue in the new programme for government, with new interventions to tackle ‘land banking’, improve energy efficiency and a further push on maximising community benefits in housing investment and public procurement - all of which featured in most of the party manifestos.

More information about the regulatory board is available online By the time of publication, Julie Nicholas will have left CIH Cymru to take up a role as new homes manager at Monmouthshire Housing Association.

Local government reorganisation remains on the cards and may include several new counties with a mix of retained and LSVT stock, within the context of the public service transformation agenda and the city deal for the Cardiff capital region.

New regulatory board members appointed In January 2016 members of the new, fully independent regulatory board for Wales were announced, replacing the former stakeholder model. The role of the board is to examine the regulatory performance and activity of the Welsh Government and the housing sector.

The board is supported by a regulatory advisory group and a tenant advisory panel. New board chair Helen White spoke at CIH Cymru’s national TAI conference in April, stating that she would be asking the regulator to focus on value for money.

Scottish Housing Matters | 33

WRITTEN BY MARK REID, PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS MANAGER, CIH SCOTLAND

LEARNING WITH CIH SCOTLAND LETWELL soon!

The CIH Scotland Learning Centre is expanding its range of qualifications this summer through the introduction of the newly released CIH level 3 certificate in letting and managing residential property. The qualification, equivalent to a level 6 qualification on the SCQF, is aimed at those working in and with private lettings businesses and is particularly relevant to letting agents.

CIH Scotland and Landlord Accreditation Scotland (LAS) are partnering up to deliver the new LETWELL programme which will provide letting agents with essential learning and the option to complete the new CIH qualification, with a view to satisfying requirements contained within the Scottish Government proposals for letting agent registration and regulation. Although the Scottish Government is still to announce final arrangements for regulation of agents, it is anticipated that all staff concerned with managing and supervising a letting agency’s day-to-day work will need to satisfy both the training and qualification requirement at the time agencies will need to apply for registration, which is now anticipated to be around the start of 2018.

LAS and CIH Scotland plan to kick off the new LETWELL programme with programmes starting in Edinburgh on 30th September, Glasgow 5th October and Aberdeen 18th October 2016.

To note interest and for more information on LETWELL and gaining the CIH level 3 certificate in letting and

34 | Scottish Housing Matters

managing residential property please email info@landlordaccreditationscotland.com or call +44 (0) 131 553 2211.

Is your organisation serving up a satisfying blend?

The Spring 2016 Employee Outlook Survey*, makes for interesting reading. It provides an insight into current attitudes of employees to their working lives. The survey also provides clues for employers as to the priorities for organisations if they are to retain a well motivated workforce equipped for high performance in challenging times.

The research report, published in May, suggests that across the UK and across all sectors and sizes of organisation, job satisfaction has fallen to a two-and-a-half-year low.

The authors also point out that this is at a time when all the indications are that further economic uncertainty may be on the way, coupled with ongoing austerity. The research does not provide figures for the housing sector specifically, but neither does it provide any comfort that the workforce within the housing sector is not being similarly impacted to some extent.

It has probably never been more important for organisations to ensure that their staff are receiving all the learning they need to be as effective and motivated as they can be in a rapidly evolving housing environment. Staff who understand how we got to where we are with housing in Scotland, and

Open short training courses: Data protection in practice 28 July, Edinburgh / 3 November, Glasgow Maintaining standards in temporary accommodation 25 August, Edinburgh Tenant participation using a community development approach 1 September, Edinburgh Housing law: anti-social behaviour 8 September, Glasgow Addressing dampness and rot, and their health implications 14 September, Edinburgh Estate management 21 September, Edinburgh Housing law: factoring and property management 4 October, Edinburgh Voids management 6 October, Glasgow Universal credit: key risks to rent collection, arrears control and debt recovery explained 8 November, Glasgow where we are likely to be going, will be well equipped to make sense of the environment in which they are working.

But it is also vital for staff to have up-to-date skills as well as essential knowledge if they are to perform at their best and maximise their contribution to the performance of their organisations and the communities in which they work. The Frontline Futures* research undertaken jointly

by CIH and Wheatley Group also confirms the importance of ensuring staff are supported to develop appropriate skills and knowledge when the nature of front-line roles continues to change. The research found that managers and organisations should be conscious of the need to develop staff to be more autonomous in their decision making, with the aim of delivering services at the front-line which reflect customers’ expectations and are responsive to individual tenant and customer needs.

The Spring 2016 Employee Outlook Survey** concludes that organisations need to ensure they are ‘giving employees opportunities for a breadth of diverse experiences and opportunities that maximise their skills and their employability going forward.’ The report confirms that employees not only find learning from peers, on-the-job training and coaching useful or very useful, but between 81-87% of respondents also find formal qualifications, external events and workshops together with off-the-job training, to be useful or very useful.

It seems from the research that in a time when job roles and the world of work are evolving in significant ways and against a backdrop of continuing economic uncertainty

Housing law: evictions 10 November, Edinburgh Introduction to housing 15 November, Glasgow Homeowner Housing Panel part I: factoring made simple 22 November, Glasgow Homeowner Housing Panel part II: understanding panel decisions 22 November, Glasgow Repairs reporting skills 23 November, Glasgow Open qualification courses delivered through CIH Scotland: CIH level 3 certificate in housing practice starts 23 August, Edinburgh CIH level 2 certificate in housing practice starts 6 September, Edinburgh For more information on all these courses visit www.cih.org/scotland Don’t see the course you need? Give us a call on 0131 2254 544 or email scotland.contact@cih.org and discuss your needs with one of our learning and development team. and ongoing austerity, it is important for organisations to understand the current drivers of staff motivation. It is also important that organisations invest in a blend of learning and development support for staff that not only aligns with strategic organisational aims and operational need, but does so through an offering that reflects staff preferences for learning. *Frontline Futures: New era changing role of housing officers (Chartered Institute of Housing and the Wheatley Group, 2014). **Spring 2016 Employee Outlook Survey (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in partnership with Halogen, May 2016)

Learn with CIH Scotland Here’s some of the open courses we have planned for the remainder of 2016. But if you would prefer, CIH Scotland can always come to you! Our qualification programmes, training courses and facilitated workshops can all be tailored to your organisation’s context; we also offer fully bespoke training and workshops.

We focus the content of our courses and workshops on the real world of work. We will also work with you to ensure that you are confident that the learning gained through our courses and workshops will make a difference to your organisation and its people. development team.

Scottish Housing Matters | 35

DIARY OF EVENTS JULY 2016

SEPTEMBER 2016

Building beyond Brexit – what now?

26 July, Edinburgh

Maintenance and asset management 15 September, Glasgow

This executive briefing is for anyone who is keen to learn what the UK’s exit from the EU will mean for housing in Scotland. The event will appeal to those working in local and national government and RSLs as well as the wider housing sector.

AUGUST 2016 Housing supply: can Scotland meet the challenge?

31 August 2016, Glasgow

This not to be missed conference tackles housing supply and planning. In an ever more challenging environment, how does Scotland meet its house building requirements and keep up with demand? This event will be of interest to those working in housing associations and local authorities who have an interest in supply and planning.

Managing our homes and services to the satisfaction of tenants and residents and the housing regulator, whilst seeking business efficiencies, is a complex and demanding challenge. This conference provides practical details of the latest developments and new technologies in the maintenance and asset management arena.

NOVEMBER 2016 Excellence Awards Dinner 11 November, Glasgow

The 2016 CIH Scotland Excellence Awards will be open for nominations soon! Work with someone who goes that extra mile? Have a future star in your office? Or what about the boss who has led the team through challenging times? We want to hear about your colleagues in Scotland’s housing sector who deserve to be celebrated.

It isn’t just people who make Scotland’s housing sector great, but the products, projects and services they deliver too. Has your organisation used an innovative approach to solve a challenge? Has it delivered an excellent regeneration project? Or is it leading in learning and development? Tell us about it and celebrate your success. *Please note that all dates and titles may be subject to change.

More information about all of our events can be found on our website: www.cih.org/Scotland

36 | Scottish Housing Matters

WHO’S WHO AT CIH SCOTLAND The new CIH Scotland board

Margaret Moore Housing Consultant, Freelance

14 board members were elected at the AGM held on 17 March 2016.

Suzie Scott Director, Scott Munro Consulting

Chair of the Board

Kenny Simpson Improvement Associate, iHub (Health Improvement Scotland)

Amanda Britain Housing and Well-being Specialist, ABL

Vice-chair of the Board

Esther Wilson Service Manager Economic Development & Strategic Investment, East Lothian Council

Board members

Richard Armitage Chief Executive, Pentland Housing Association Ltd Gordon Campbell Director, Campbell Thompson Associates Ltd Mike Campbell Managing Director, Belvoir Lettings Edinburgh Gary Dalziel Director of Finance & Corporate Services, Linstone Housing Association Ltd Helen Forsyth Chief Executive, Berwickshire Housing Association Jim Hayton Retired CIH Member John Kerr Housing Strategy Manager, West Dunbartonshire Council

Kirsty Wells Head of HouseMark Scotland Bryony Willet Director Housing Services, Maryhill Housing Association (co-opted) You can find out more about them on the CIH website www.cih.org/scotlandboard

CIH Scotland staff If you would like to contact any of the CIH Scotland team, their job titles and email addresses are below: Annie Mauger Executive Director, Devolved Nations annie.mauger@cih.org Marian Reid Deputy Director marian.reid@cih.org Amy Beeston Customer Services Co-ordinator amy.beeston@cih.org

Emily Cronin, Events Officer (temporary) emily.cronin@cih.org Sarah Greally Learning and Development Officer sarah.greally@cih.org Sean Henderson Business Development Officer sean.henderson@cih.org Lynsey Kay Events Officer (maternity leave) lynsey.kay@cih.org Rachel Marr Operations Manager rachel.marr@cih.org Isla McDonald Customer Services Co-ordinator isla.mcdonald@cih.org Greig Porter Conference and Events Manager greig.porter@cih.org Mark Reid Professional Standards Manager mark.reid@cih.org Diana Taseva Customer Services Co-ordinator diana.taseva@cih.org Susanne Webster Policy and Practice Co-ordinator susanne.webster@cih.org

Ashley Campbell Policy and Practice Manager ashley.campbell@cih.org

Scottish Housing Matters | 37

38 | Scottish Housing Matters