Chamber
Plenary, 02 Jun 2004
02 Jun 2004 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Affordable Housing<br />(North-east Fife)
Members might wonder why I am speaking in the debate, but I know something about St Andrews because I went to university there and I have two daughters currently at the university. From personal experience I can vouch for the fact that the accommodation situation in St Andrews is critical. If we consider it from the students' angle, accommodation is extremely expensive. There is a syndrome whereby wealthy parents buy houses and then let them through agents, which removes them from the market. The number of students who seek to go to the University of St Andrews is not helped by a certain royal effect, although the prince is very welcome in Scotland.
To look at the situation the other way round, part of the solution might come from the fact that more students in second and third year at the university go into rented accommodation than go into university accommodation. Perhaps a structural approach could be taken to the situation. The university has the Andrew Melville hall and other large halls. If those spaces could be increased, that might encourage students to stay longer in halls. That might not work, but it is worth being considered by the minister.
Much as I respect and pay heed to what Ted Brocklebank says, I found his comments rather strange. If I understood him right, in essence what he proposes is that the devil take the hindmost and, if someone comes from a poor background in St Andrews, they have no choice but to go and live in Leven or somewhere else. I have to tell Ted Brocklebank that a similar situation prevails in a rather similar community to St Andrews called Dornoch, which is built around a great golf course.
When I was leaving church in Dornoch last Sunday, people spoke to me about the problem of young people trying to get accommodation there. The situation is exactly the same as it is in St Andrews. People are buying into Dornoch partly on the back of the Inverness effect, which is a bit like the Edinburgh effect in Fife—prices are shooting up. However, as we all know, people are also buying for the postcode. If someone gets the right postcode, they can get on the waiting list for the Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
I say to the minister that some of the solution lies in the following areas. I am aware that, when council houses are sold now, the capital receipts can be used to build or repair a council's housing stock or to build new stock; it is not just a matter of paying off the housing debt. Further, more local authorities can borrow at their own hand. Of course, that power is related to what their debt profile looks like.
Let us compare the current situation with the old days. Those of us who were district councillors know that there were two sorts of funding: block A and block B. Block A was for public rented housing. The fact is that the capital that is available to the 32 Scottish local authorities today, combining capital receipts and borrowing, is a fraction of what it was in the 1980s and early 1990s. That issue is beyond the Executive's remit—ultimately, it is about the Treasury and the public sector borrowing requirement—but funding for council housing might have to be considered at a national level.
I say to Ted Brocklebank that the issue is not just about private versus public. With imaginative planning and the use of what used to be called block B funding, local authorities can work with the private sector on low-cost home ownership schemes and the sale of plots at a discounted rate to which various legal terms and conditions are attached. In parts of Scotland, those methods have been, and are being, used imaginatively. More of the same would go down well. Housing does not necessarily have to be in the public sector. I have seen low-cost home ownership work well.
I congratulate Iain Smith on securing the debate. He outlined succinctly the housing situation in St Andrews, as I understand it, which is paralleled in many other communities in Scotland. There is no easy solution to the housing problem, but it can be tackled on a number of fronts, including by considering the student accommodation situation in St Andrews.
To look at the situation the other way round, part of the solution might come from the fact that more students in second and third year at the university go into rented accommodation than go into university accommodation. Perhaps a structural approach could be taken to the situation. The university has the Andrew Melville hall and other large halls. If those spaces could be increased, that might encourage students to stay longer in halls. That might not work, but it is worth being considered by the minister.
Much as I respect and pay heed to what Ted Brocklebank says, I found his comments rather strange. If I understood him right, in essence what he proposes is that the devil take the hindmost and, if someone comes from a poor background in St Andrews, they have no choice but to go and live in Leven or somewhere else. I have to tell Ted Brocklebank that a similar situation prevails in a rather similar community to St Andrews called Dornoch, which is built around a great golf course.
When I was leaving church in Dornoch last Sunday, people spoke to me about the problem of young people trying to get accommodation there. The situation is exactly the same as it is in St Andrews. People are buying into Dornoch partly on the back of the Inverness effect, which is a bit like the Edinburgh effect in Fife—prices are shooting up. However, as we all know, people are also buying for the postcode. If someone gets the right postcode, they can get on the waiting list for the Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
I say to the minister that some of the solution lies in the following areas. I am aware that, when council houses are sold now, the capital receipts can be used to build or repair a council's housing stock or to build new stock; it is not just a matter of paying off the housing debt. Further, more local authorities can borrow at their own hand. Of course, that power is related to what their debt profile looks like.
Let us compare the current situation with the old days. Those of us who were district councillors know that there were two sorts of funding: block A and block B. Block A was for public rented housing. The fact is that the capital that is available to the 32 Scottish local authorities today, combining capital receipts and borrowing, is a fraction of what it was in the 1980s and early 1990s. That issue is beyond the Executive's remit—ultimately, it is about the Treasury and the public sector borrowing requirement—but funding for council housing might have to be considered at a national level.
I say to Ted Brocklebank that the issue is not just about private versus public. With imaginative planning and the use of what used to be called block B funding, local authorities can work with the private sector on low-cost home ownership schemes and the sale of plots at a discounted rate to which various legal terms and conditions are attached. In parts of Scotland, those methods have been, and are being, used imaginatively. More of the same would go down well. Housing does not necessarily have to be in the public sector. I have seen low-cost home ownership work well.
I congratulate Iain Smith on securing the debate. He outlined succinctly the housing situation in St Andrews, as I understand it, which is paralleled in many other communities in Scotland. There is no easy solution to the housing problem, but it can be tackled on a number of fronts, including by considering the student accommodation situation in St Andrews.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Trish Godman):
Lab
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S2M-1329, in the name of Iain Smith, on affordable housing in north-east Fife. The debate ...
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes with concern the shortage of affordable housing for rent or sale in many communities in north-east Fife; recognises that this is du...
Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD):
LD
I thank the Parliamentary Bureau, and members who supported my motion, for giving me the opportunity to secure this debate on affordable housing in north-eas...
Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
There are housing shortages in north-east Fife, as there are in many parts of Scotland, including the capital city of Edinburgh. The problem in the case of S...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
I call Richard Lochhead. I am sorry—I call Tricia Marwick.
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
I have my other glasses on, but the last time that I looked I was not Richard Lochhead.I congratulate Iain Smith on securing tonight's debate. I know that it...
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
I did it, and I was born in a council house.
Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
It is absolutely bizarre.
Tricia Marwick:
SNP
It is. I appreciate Keith Raffan's intervention.Local authorities, including Fife Council, have a statutory duty to house people. The Homelessness etc (Scotl...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
Members might wonder why I am speaking in the debate, but I know something about St Andrews because I went to university there and I have two daughters curre...
Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green):
Green
I thank Iain Smith for securing a debate on this important topic. I will comment briefly on three aspects of affordable housing: first, housing prices; secon...
Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I am grateful to Iain Smith for giving us the opportunity to discuss an important issue, and also for his statement at the outset that the debate is about ho...
Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
My only connection with St Andrews is that, as a teenager, I used to go to the caravan park on holiday. I therefore come to this debate as an outsider—I repr...
Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
I congratulate my colleague Iain Smith on obtaining this important debate on affordable housing in north-east Fife.North-east Fife is, of course, part of the...
The Deputy Minister for Communities (Mrs Mary Mulligan):
Lab
I congratulate Iain Smith on securing the debate this evening. Housing is an issue that is discussed constantly in the Parliament; indeed, it is a subject ea...
Murray Tosh:
Con
Does planning guidance require Fife Council to zone sufficient land to meet that need? If it does not, does the Executive intend to amend planning guidance i...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
My understanding is that Fife Council is developing its planning strategy, which will be put out to consultation soon. Of course, within the planning strateg...
Murray Tosh:
Con
I thank the minister for that response, but does she accept that some local authorities with new local plans do not have that policy and therefore do not car...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
We are talking specifically about rural housing development. I am conscious that we are consulting on housing development in rural areas for the very reasons...
Richard Lochhead:
SNP
While holiday and second homes are important, does the minister accept that the underlying problem is the lack of homes? We should not be targeting holiday a...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
I understand that it is a question of the overall number of homes. However, I also recognise that the underlying problem, which we need to address, is that t...
Mr Raffan:
LD
Will the minister give way?
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
I am sorry, but I am running out of time.The Executive's affordable housing review is considering the issue of shared equity. We have had discussions with va...
Meeting closed at 18:03.