Local Housing Strategy

• Increase the supply of new housing by 6,000 units and affordable housing by over 2,500 units over the next 5 years.
• Provide a mix of different tenure options to meet the affordable housing need and demand.
• Look at ways to lever in additional finance for new affordable housing.
• Ensure sufficient land is made available to facilitate new house building; undertaking actions to help make sites deliverable.
• Target the affordable housing new supply programme to address local mismatches in supply and demand and meet needs of the increasing number of single person households through building more 1 bedroom properties.
• Implement the Affordable Housing Policy, targeted to increase the supply of affordable housing in areas of identified shortfall.
• Encourage owners of empty homes to bring them back into use.
• Support Self Build via the Highland Small Communities Housing Trust.
• Continue to consider the use of individual property purchases in areas where specific housing needs cannot be met within the existing housing stock.
• Maximise infrastructure investment to enable housing development.
• Consider specific regeneration initiatives where appropriate.
• Ensure housing supply issues are considered as part of master-planning for major economic developments.
• Continue to support fragile rural communities.

Do you agree with the actions we want to take to increase housing supply?  

• Ensure access to an enhanced housing advice and information service.
• Prevent homelessness wherever possible and provide sustainable solutions.
• Enable access to the right type of housing.
• Provide support to enable people to develop and maintain their capacity to live independently.
• Work with housing support providers and stakeholders to ensure the implementation of improved systems of service delivery which will focus on outcomes for clients.
• Work towards providing the majority of temporary accomodation in Council - owned HRA properties, with a rent structure that is affordable within the welfare benefits system.
• Renegotiate rents with property owners in order to bring these into line with Local Housing Allowance rates. This will ensure that the housing element paid to those on Universal Credit will cover the rent charged. Where we cannot negotiate a more favourable rent with the landlord or when we no longer need a property we should end leases early where possible or not renew them when they expire. We will try to avoid placing homeless households in receipt of Universal Credit in proerty with rents above the Local Housing Allowance rate.

Do you agree with the actions we want to take to prevent and respond to homelessness and make sure people have the right help to let them make decisions on their housing options?

• Build new housing stock to high energy efficiency standards.
• Continue to maintain and improve the standard of social rented sector housing.
• Consider selective approaches to deal with failing or low demand housing.
• Increase sustainability by reducing resource use, protecting our environment, combating climate change and conserving and enhancing biodiversity in our housing development programme.
• Work towards achieving the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) where technically feasible at a reasonable cost.
• Continue to work in partnership with other agencies to develop solutions on how to address fuel poverty in remote and rural areas.
• Help householders become better informed on ways to make their homes warmer, to make savings on energy bills and to increase their income.
• Prioritise actions and activities on those most at risk i.e. those on lowest incomes with highest energy costs and those that under-heat their home.
• The energy efficiency of homes (all tenures) is improved through: 
• Delivery of Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland.
• Commission energy efficiency programmes for social housing.
• Improve fuel choice.
• Share good practice regarding retrofit measures and building new homes.
• Develop Highland knowledge base and lobby for more localised and customer-focused delivery mechanisms.
• Consider setting up a local energy supplier.
• Promote district heating schemes.