Council on course to meet affordable housing target

The Highland Council is on course to meet its target of providing 2,000 new affordable homes by 2011. A total of 563 affordable homes were started in 2007/8 and a further 350 are planned to start in the current financial year.

And Councillor Margaret Davidson, Chairman of the Housing and Social Work Committee, is confident that increased Scottish Government funding in 2009/10 and 2010/11 will allow the Council to meet the target set by the Council Administration in its Programme for Administration.

She said: “We have a proven track record of delivering affordable housing throughout the Highlands. Much has been achieved through our planning policy on new housing developments. We will continue to work with the Scottish Government to identify funding and with housing associations to ensure that we meet the demand from the public for this kind of accommodation.

“In 2007/8, we were in a position to spend £36 million on affordable housing. This is a great credit to our housing development team and the excellent partners we have in Highland. While our allocation is expected to be £27 million in this current year, it is anticipated that this reduction in the investment level will be compensated for by additional levels of investment in the subsequent two financial years. This should enable us to meet our target of 2,000 new homes by 2011. This is good news for the Highland community.”

The Administration will also be proposing that the additional income from the reduced discount on Council Tax offered to owners of second homes – estimated at £2,439,000 in 2007/08 - will be directed to high cost rural housing projects.