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Housing: The Scottish way

Wednesday 12 March 2008

editorial staff

house of children

Scotland has resolved to put an end to bad housing by 2012, by obliging local authorities to make real and visible progress. Initial signs are encouraging.Scotland has resolved to put an end to bad housing by 2012, by obliging local authorities to make real and visible progress. Initial signs are encouraging.

Scotland has resolved to put an end to bad housing by 2012, by obliging local authorities to make real and visible progress. Initial signs are encouraging. In France, the right to housing has been legally protected since 1990, and the introduction of the Besson law. Yet 3 million badly-housed people (according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation) are testament to just how theoretical this right still is. This is why an increasing number of associations are insisting that this right become “opposable”, i.e. that a citizen is able to appeal to a tribunal, and demand that he or she is provided with secure housing. For these organisations, Scotland is a point of reference: with 2003’s Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act (In this instance, ‘Homeless’ does not refer to those without homes; it refers to those in unsuitable accommodation), it was the first country to commit itself to this particular approach. The law obliges Scottish local authorities to make visible progress in the domain of accommodation; initiatives alone are no longer adequate. However, it will come into effect over a period of years, and only in 2012 will local authorities be strictly and legally bound to provide stable housing to those that demand it. This is why, three years after its adoption, we cannot fully evaluate the efficacy of this law. But the initial signs are encouraging. The question of accommodation is not new to the United Kingdom. The Industrial Revolution prompted the rapid development of towns, which coincided with a massive rural exodus. Much of the working class were forced to live in extremely unsanitary conditions, leading to an increase in the death rate. Yet for most of the 19th Century, the State employed a laisser-faire approach; the development of a stock of rented social housing was due to the initiative of a number of businessmen, local authorities and charities. After 1890, they started to receive orders from central government. Nevertheless, local authorities and associations continued to play a crucial role throughout the 20th century. Housing stock sold to its occupants With the swing towards liberalism of the 1980’s, a large percentage of housing stock was sold to its occupiers, a policy since followed by Tony Blair. The theory was that homeowners would be more inclined to invest in and maintain their property than those who rented. But, much like France, the U.K was to suffer at the hands of land speculation and unemployment: the former caused prices to explode, whereas the latter made it all the more difficult for a certain sector of the population to gain access to housing. The sums of the policy did not add up. The situation was further exacerbated by a shrinking social sector, which was to blame for the rise in poor quality housing, also seen in France – squalid houses, seedy flats and overcrowding. Since the passing of the Housing Act of 1977, every local authority in the U.K (and therefore Scotland) had been required, in theory, to provide permanent accommodation to anyone that needed it, if the applicant fulfilled certain conditions. Firstly, the applicant had to prove that he or she was unsuitably housed and truly ‘deserving’, i.e. that they had not been thrown out of their domicile as a result of bad behaviour. Such behaviour might have included arguing with neighbours, or the wilful non-payment of rent. Then, the local authority would need to verify that the applicant had genuine ties to the area. Finally, the applicant would need to be deemed a ‘priority’: pregnant women, families with children and vulnerable individuals (for instance, those with a mental or physical disability) all figured in this category. This category was widened in 1996, and then in 2002, to include those who had become homeless as a result of a natural disaster, victims of violence, minors, ex-prisoners and those under 21 years of age who had been in care. A serious lack of suitable housing Additionally, there was, and still is, income-assessed financial assistance, know as Housing Benefit, similar to the APL in France. “The problem is that the process is extremely long and bureaucratic. As a result, it excludes those who do not have an excellent grasp of the English language. Over years, this provision has become but a complement to the income of the poorest families” explains Christina Cran of Shelter, an association that fights for the right to housing. Housing Benefit might facilitate the payment of rent, but makes little progress towards putting an end to bad housing. Therefore, when Scotland recognised its right to elect its own Parliament with the devolution of 1999, the Labour-led government made the most of the country’s new freedom, and tackled the problem head-on. Housing problems were particularly severe in Scotland, which had coped badly with the deindustrialisation of the past few decades, and until recently, had largely missed out on the boom in services that England had enjoyed. This was the situation: in 2003, there were 2.3 million properties for 5 million Scots. 700,000 properties were in the social rented sector, many of which were located in the working-class suburbs of Glasgow. That number had also fallen as a result of the political drive to sell properties to their occupants: in 1983, of a total of 2 million properties, 1.1 million had been in the social rented sector. Also, the social sector was building far fewer new houses: at the start of the decade, 23,000 new properties were built every year in Scotland, but until 2003, less than 5,000 of these were in the social rented sector. And while in general, the supply of new properties exceeded demand, economic factors prevented the demand from being satisfied where the new jobs were to be found: so Edinburgh was suffering a shortfall of around 3,000 properties, whereas Glasgow, one-time centre of industry, had 3,500 too many – although the majority of these were dilapidated. Like elsewhere in the country, a growing number of households were both excluded from the rental market and unable to get on the property ladder, due to the increase in prices: in 2004, the average price of a property in the cheapest 25% - i.e. a small and basic semi-detached house – was £70,000 (around €105,000), compared to less than £50,000 (€75,000) five years before. As a result, there were 50,000 applications for council housing in 2003, compared to 40,000 seven years before. The Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act: a revolution It was then that the Scottish Parliament passed the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act. This law considerably increased the obligations of the Housing Act. Applicants were no longer required to systematically prove how ‘deserving’ they were, and local authorities were obliged to provide them with temporary accommodation, in addition to social care. Also, authorities could only reject an applicant on the grounds of no local ties if they were able to refer them to another authority. The major innovation of the Act was its extension of the right to housing to the totality of the population, not just those who were deemed ‘priorities’. Finally, the ‘opposable’ nature of the right was guaranteed, since citizens who believe they had been unfairly treated were now able to appeal to a tribunal. “This option will be available to all in 2012. However, our aim is to avoid an increase in disagreements, by working closely with local authorities” explains Samantha Fiander of the Scottish government’s press office. The Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act is being carried out in stages: from autumn 2002, even before the passing of the Act, any ‘priority’ applicant was entitled to demand temporary accommodation. This measure benefited 7,500 individuals last year, a 6% increase on 2004. The ‘priority’ category will be progressively widened until 2012, when the entire population will be covered. In 2005, 75% of applicants were already considered ‘priorities’, compared to only 54% in 2003. A policy for the public The greater demands made of local authorities were accompanied by a policy intended to alleviate the shortfall in council housing, and to make the market more fluid. From 2001, every authority was required to draw up a plan to combat unsuitable housing, which was to analyse the needs of the area and set out objectives. These local plans were collected, and a national plan was drawn up. This plan tackled each individual authority and ensured that at least 25% of new buildings could be classed as ‘affordable accommodation’. Between 2003 and 2005, the Scottish government invested £3.5 million (€5.3 million) in its housing policy, i.e. 1.5% of Scotland’s Gross Domestic Product. This was in addition to the spending of housing associations and local authorities (the latter having benefited greatly from new loan facilities since 2003). Scotland has also formed partnerships with the private sector to renovate the stock and manage housing demand. It is because of this that 16,500 new properties were built in 2004 and 2005, i.e. twice the number that had been constructed in the two previous years, not to mention 6,000 houses with fixed price ceilings. There are plans for 21,500 new houses to be built in the next three years. 1,400 empty properties have been put back on the market, thanks to agreements with property owners. Furthermore, 100,000 properties have been transferred from heavily indebted authorities to non-profit organisations that will renovate the properties, while helping to invest two million pounds (3 million euros) in order to construct new homes between now and 2008. Individual treatment of applicants Crucially, the 2003 law focused not only on the shortage of rental property - it also focused on the monitoring and support of individual applicants, who often experience serious social difficulties. The object of this policy, whose budget rose from 50 million in 2001 to 400 million in 2004, is to eventually reduce the number of applicants. Thus far, it has not enjoyed great success: in 2005, 57,000 people applied for council housing, claiming that their accommodation was unsuitable, while there were only 50,000 applicants in the year the law was passed. When the law came into effect, there was a rapid increase in applications, but today, the situation seems to be on its way to becoming stable. Jason McDonald, spokesperson for CoSLA, which represents Scottish local governments, believes that “it will be difficult to meet all the objectives we have set for 2012, even with the co-operation of every local authority”. In response, Christina Cran of Shelter claims it is imperative to “suspend all sales of social housing and focus on the problem of the 22,300 properties which have been empty for longer than six months”. Essentially, it is not so much the simple establishment of an opposable right to housing that has inspired people to act as it is the desire of the government to see this right be upheld - a desire made manifest by their programmes and policy. “Legal constraints are not the key to the system’s success – it is rather the fact that the Scottish government, the local authorities and the housing associations have come together and invested time and money in order to radically improve the situation” concludes Jason McDonald. One thing is sure – we’d like to see the same desire to act on our side of the channel. Laure Meunier, Alternatives Economiques, June 2006