Housing minister claims he ‘didn’t hear directly’ that Rural Housing Scotland was closing
The housing minister for the Scottish Government has said that he was unaware that Rural Housing Scotland (RHS) was set to close.
SNP minister, Paul McLennan spoke to The Inverness Courier at the Highland Council’s Housing Challenge Summit today.
Last week, the charity organisation, which supports the building of affordable housing in rural Scotland, announced that it was closing due to a lack of funding.
When asked about the closure today, Mr McLennan said: “I didn’t hear directly from them, so we have contacted them to try and arrange a chat with them about this.
“We need to make sure we are maximising agencies that are already out there, for the housing that we need.”
However, since this comment, RHS has said that the Scottish Government was ‘fully aware’ of the issues it was facing and the organisation has received no communication from the Scottish Government since the announcement.
A spokesperson for RHS said: “The Scottish Government has been fully aware of our funding struggles for some time – we discussed this in meetings with them to which we had been told no support from them was available.
“We then spent the last year desperately seeking funding options elsewhere with no success. The door was closed with the Scottish Government.
“We haven’t received any contact from anyone in the current Scottish Government housing department since announcing our closure. We have received no response from the housing minister or More Homes division team. The press release was sent to them.
“We have however been contacted by members of the other parties to see if there was anything they could do to support us.”
Mr McLennan was providing the keynote speech at the Highland Council’s Housing Challenge Summit today.
Addressing the audience at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort he emphasised the need for high-quality homes across Scotland.
Speaking about the Highlands, he said: “The right type of housing can have a generational impact. It’s one of the most important things that will help people stay and attract workers.
“Housing is a key component of the significant transformational opportunity.
“We all need to lead on this, we can’t talk about opportunities without talking about it.
“We need more high-quality homes, in the right places and a settled home responding to the real challenges of homelessness.
“Highland Council has over £35 million to spend on affordable housing.”
The Inverness Courier had the opportunity to speak to the Mr McLennan at the event.
Empty properties in the Highlands
When discussing the issue of empty properties in the Highlands, he said: “I think there is a number of initiatives.
“We have been working with the Empty Homes Partnership over the last few years, and have provided £11 million of funding which has delivered 9000 homes across Scotland.
“I think the part of the challenge is how we bring these 3000 homes back into use. Councils have been funded for empty homes officers. Not every home is going to be suitable and it depends where it is.
“It’s working with the council and their empty homes officers to maximise opportunities around that.
“In some cases, it’s cheaper to renovate an empty home than to build a new one. So we are working with opportunities.”
What about building infrastructure?
Houses are needed, but so is infrastructure. Schools, GPs, hospitals, dentists, childcare and adult social care.
Mr McLennan said: “We need to deliver that through planning and the Masterplan Consent Areas.
“We need to identify where we need these things. That has to be part of the funding package, and we need to look at that with developers and the Scottish Government plays its part too.”
Allan Maguire, head of development and regeneration at The Highland Council emphasised this when speaking at today’s summit.
He said: “This can’t just be about housing. We need to work with the NHS and other agencies to provide for communities.”
