Focus Group Consultation

1
Focus Group Consultation

• Housing (Scotland) Act 2006
• Consultation on Draft Guidance and Regulations
• Disabled Home Owners
• Financial Assistance with Adaptations

26thJune 2008
2
Outline

• Housekeeping
• Welcome Introductions
• Background to Consultation

3
The Consultation in Context

• 2006 Act, and consultation, are about existing
  private stock, ie 65 of housing in Scotland.
• Firm Foundations is primarily about identifying
  mechanisms to increase the supply of affordable
  housing across Scotland.
• The Building Regulations in Scotland set out
  minimum standards for the design of all new
  houses. Major review in May 2007 addressed access
  issues.
• Higher design standards (HVN) for public sector.

4
Current System Help with Adaptations

• Mandatory grant for toilet and bathroom
  facilities (standard amenities)
• Discretionary grant for other adaptations.
• Minimum 50 grant, then means test up to 100
• Many councils operate 20k upper limit
• Social work contributions rare.

5
Consultation Work to Meet the Needs of Disabled
People

• Joint corporate approach housing social work.
• Separating adaptations and house condition works.
• Mandatory grant for adaptations
• Minimum percentage grant rate.
• Mandatory advice on loan options
• Private Sector Housing Grant Funding.

6
Joint Housing/Social Work approachthe
assessment process

• Assessment identifies needs, in terms of
  activities of daily living.
• Decision on level of priority.
• Agreement on how best to meet needs, e.g. through
  adaptation.
• If housing side unable to assist, local authority
  still has responsibility to meet need.

7
Separating adaptations and house condition works

• Grant for repairs means rewarding neglect.
• No fault associated with disability.
• Adaptations dont usually add to property value.

8
Mandatory grant for standard amenities and
adaptations

• Adaptations now to attract mandatory grant.
• Adaptation where best way to meet eligible
  assessed need.
• Adaptation structural work and other permanent
  changes to the building fabric but excluding work
  to extend the original structure to create
  additional living accommodation

9
Minimum percentage grant rate

• Statutory means test abolished.
• Average award 84 at present.
• Minimum grant 80, or 100 for recipients of
  specified benefits.
• Will speed up the process.

10
Mandatory advice on loan options

• Applies to work excluded from mandatory grant.
• Regulations refer simply to advice and
  information to assist the applicant to fund the
  work.
• As a minimum, advice on loan options.

11
Private Sector Housing Grant Funding

• Since 2003, an increasing proportion of PSHG
  spent on adaptations.
• This trend to continue as spend on grant for
  repairs and improvement falls.
• Where additional funding has become available
  mid-year, councils urged to prioritise
  adaptations.
• PSHG also funds Care and Repair projects, many of
  which have a key role in facilitating adaptation
  work.

12
Questions

• Do you agree with the proposal to make grants
  available for a wider variety of adaptation work,
  and not just for bathroom and toilet facilities
  as now?
• Do you agree with our proposals to set a minimum
  grant rate of 80 for applicants carrying out
  adaptations work covered by mandatory grant, and
  100 for people in receipt of income support,
  pension credit (guarantee element), job seekers
  allowance (income based) and the new employment
  support allowance? Should more people than this
  qualify for 100 grant? If so, who?
• Do you agree that work which extends the property
  by providing extra bedroom space should be
  excluded from the scope of mandatory grant as it
  adds value to the property?
  
• Is it helpful for councils to be under a duty to
  help people carrying out such extension work get
  specialist advice on options for funding it, i.e.
  mainly advice on special loans which require no
  repayments until the property is sold?

13
Questions

• Do you think that better information and advice
  could be made available to owners wanting to
  carry out work to their home? What sort of
  information and advice would be most helpful?
• Would a One Stop Shop approach be helpful for
  owners needing advice on carrying out repair and
  improvement work?
• Do you agree with the proposals to give more
  financial help to disabled owners (including
  families with disabled children) with adapting
  their home so that they can live more
  independently there?
• How can owners pay for repairs and improvements
  to their property? Should grant still be
  available? If so, how should local councils
  decide their priorities for giving grant?

14
Questions

• Do you think that owners who have small mortgages
  or no mortgages should use some of the equity in
  their property to pay for repair and improvement
  work if they have no other means of paying for
  the work?
• Is it helpful for the Scottish Government to set
  up a special lending unit (the National Lending
  Unit) to help owners on low incomes finance
  repair and improvement work?
• Do you support the creation of a publicly funded
  financial advice service (the Lending Advisory
  Service) to help people check whether there are
  any suitable loan products available for them
  from high street lenders?
• Do you support the proposal to develop loan
  products which are compliant with Sharia law and
  are therefore accessible to owners from Muslim
  communities?