Positive progress made on five-year housing strategy for Perth and Kinross

Members of the Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee will be told that 243 new houses for affordable social rent were delivered in Perth and Kinross, along with another 30 for mid-market rent, in partnership with local Registered Social Landlords. Thirty-seven of the new homes for affordable social rent are Council new-build properties.

The progress report on the Council's five-year Local Housing Strategy (LHS) for Perth and Kinross will be considered by Councillors at a meeting on Wednesday 11^th June.

The LHS for 2022-2027 sets out the vision, policies and plans that will enable the Council and its community partners to continue the delivery of high-quality housing and housing services for local people. It is an ambitious plan, setting out what homes and communities should look and feel like over the next five years:

The progress report to be considered by the committee outlines a range of other achievements made over the last 12 months across identified priority areas, including:

• The Council bought back 116 ex-Council homes to further increase its stock of affordable social housing.
• 20 empty homes were provided for people in need of accommodation through the Empty Homes Initiative.
• A total of 1,413 households were supported to sustain their tenancy through our Tenancy Sustainment Fund, Financial Inclusion Project and Think Yes budget, preventing them from becoming homeless.
• We continued to deliver sector-leading outcomes for people who experienced homelessness, helping them into secure, permanent accommodation quickly.
• A new Tenant Downsizing Scheme was launched with the aim of freeing up larger homes for households experiencing overcrowding.
• We invested £491,700 in 330 minor housing adaptations and 74 major adaptations for local authority tenants, allowing people to living independently in their own homes for as long as they want to.
• Our work with SCARF to deliver our Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT) service, provided free and impartial energy efficiency advice to 880 households which resulted in savings for residents, reductions in carbon emissions and removed some residents from fuel poverty.

The report also sets out what our priorities will be for the coming year, including the continued delivery of 1,050 new homes by 2027.

Members of the committee will be asked to note the progress made in 2024/25 and approve the list of priorities set out for the next 12 months.

Committee Convener, Councillor Tom McEwan, said: "The LHS is one of the most important strategies we produce as a Council. Housing plays a vital role in meeting the needs of local people, communities and the economy. Giving people the right housing for them, in the right place and at the right cost, vastly improves their overall life chances.

"The LHS is the framework for how we deliver new housing, improve existing houses across the area, drive down fuel poverty, make sure people live in secure and warm housing, tackle homelessness and reduce the carbon footprint of our area.

"This excellent report highlights the massive amount of work that the Council and our Registered Social Landlord partners have done, and will continue to do.

"I am particularly pleased to see hundreds of new homes for affordable rent added to the local housing stock, which will provide much-needed accommodation for people and families that will change their lives. The Council continues to add significant amounts of new housing to its stock through our new-build and buy-back programmes.

"We are also one of the leading local authorities in Scotland when it comes to preventing and dealing with homelessness. Supporting over 1,400 households to keep their tenancy, avoiding both the stigma and financial cost of homelessness, is a notable achievement.

"Overall, we are making excellent progress under our LHS for 2022-27. We will move forward with ambition and determination to provide high-quality, affordable housing for people, in the areas where they want to live."