Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its housing policies aid and promote downsizing in the social and private sectors.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Housing to 2040 sets out a vision for what the Scottish Government wants homes and communities to look and feel like for the people in Scotland. We set out an ambitious vision that by 2040 everyone living in Scotland would have access to a safe, warm, afford…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its national acquisition programme will be subject to the Scottish Government’s Principles for Programme and Project Management, and what the programme's relationship will be with the affordable housing supply programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: As stated in the answer to S6W-20375 on 16 August 2023, the national acquisition programme will be run as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme which aligns with the Scottish Government’s Principles for Programme and Project Management. All answers…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, how many Scottish Government civil servants will be working on the management and delivery of the proposed national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: As outlined in the answer to S6W-20375 on 16 August 2023, the national acquisition programme is part of the wider Affordable Housing Supply Programme. No civil servants will be assigned solely to work on the national acquisition programme. All answers to wri…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the key performance indicators (KPIs) will be for the national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: We have not yet set key performance indicators for the national acquisition programme.
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, how it will decide where to target the proposed £60 million of funding for the national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The national acquisition programme will be funded from existing Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs) and it will be for local authorities to consider and assess how much of their 2023-24 RPAs they target towards property acquisitions.
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, what role the Scottish Government will play in co-ordinating the proposed national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The national acquisition programme will be part of the overall Affordable Housing Supply Programme and will be managed and co-ordinated on the same basis through continued close working with delivery partners and reporting and monitoring of progress.
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, what proactive work the Scottish Government will take to identify ways to boost the number of allocations to homeless households in stock transfer authorities.
Answer · Paul McLennan: A series of meetings, both at a political and official level, are underway to engage with local authorities on the Scottish Government’s response to the recommendations of the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group. We are aware that there are some are…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, how many households will be directly lifted out of temporary accommodation due to the proposed national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The answer to S6W-20289 on 16 August 2023 makes clear that we are currently unable to say how many households will be directly lifted out of temporary accommodation. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, th…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, whether it will provide details of how the proposed national acquisition programme will help it to meet its equalities objectives.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The national acquisition programme is expected to be informed by local authority Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans. In preparing their Local Housing Strategies, local authorities should ensure that equality is central to housing …
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19656 by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023, when it made the decision that it would not be able to make more fundamental changes to the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 with respect to joint tenancy arrangements in the emergency Cost of …
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 (‘the 2022 Act’) is emergency legislation and is intended to provide support to tenants through stabilising rents and providing additional evictions protections for a time limited period. The provisio…
1 Aug 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much non-domestic rates income has been forgone where Small Business Bonus Scheme rates relief has been claimed for self-catering units, broken down by (a) 100%, (b) 25% and (c) 0% (where they were not eligible due to having a number of properties with a combined rateable value of £3…
Answer · Tom Arthur: Eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), is set out in legislation and it is for local authorities to administer reliefs to eligible properties in accordance with that legislation. Table 1 presents the est…
27 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any benchmarks or grant limits attached to the £60 million national acquisition programme.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Affordable housing investment benchmarks will not apply to the purchase of ‘second hand’ residential dwellings through the national acquisition programme and no grant limits will be attached to any purchase.
27 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the full list of changes in Affordable Housing Supply Programme: Process and procedures MHDGN 2023/01 compared to MHDGN 2022/02.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The main changes between MHDGN 2022/02 and MHDGN 2023/01 are listed in the ‘Introduction’ section of MHDGN 2023/01. Both guidance notes continue to be available on the Scottish Government website for reference purposes.
27 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many property acquisitions are expected to be supported through the £60 million allocated to the national acquisition programme, and what modelling has been conducted to support this.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Currently we have not undertaken any modelling and do not have an estimate of property acquisitions likely to be supported. All acquisitions will align with Local Housing Strategies.
27 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the national acquisition programme was announced without advice on how purchases from landlords in the private rented sector with tenants in situ would take place.
Answer · Paul McLennan: We are continuing to work through technical and practical points around purchases from landlords in the private rented sector with tenants in situ, and further information will be communicated as soon as possible. Any council or Registered Social Landlord tha…
10 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the review of the Home Owners' Support Fund to date, and how many FTE staff members have been allocated to the review.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The policy review work is being led by civil servants as part of their overall role of policy development and operational delivery. As such there are no costs that have been incurred. Two full-time equivalent policy team officials are working on the review as…
10 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of the Home Owners' Support Fund has modelled any impact of mortgage rates reaching 6.5%, in light of reports of this happening.
Answer · Paul McLennan: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10237 on 7 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…
10 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what the average processing time has been for (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications in each quarter since April 2022, and how many applications in each quarter took (i) less than one year, (ii) one to two years, (iii) two to three year…
Answer · Paul McLennan: The following table shows the average processing times for the cases which settled during each quarter since April 2022 and how many of those were processed within the requested timescales. Number of Successful Applications Processed in Financial Year Q…
10 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) enquiries about and (b) applications to the Home Owners' Support Fund it has received in each quarter since April 2022, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity scheme, and, of those applications that were received, how many were (A) success…
Answer · Paul McLennan: All applications to HOSF are tested for eligibility for both Mortgage to Rent (MtR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MtSE). Due to the circumstances of individuals there have been no Mortgage to Shared Equity cases since 2015, in particular many applicants have…
10 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it has not updated the Parliament on the progress of its review into the Home Owners' Support Fund.
Answer · Paul McLennan: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17723 on 17 May 2023. Parliament will be updated once the review has completed. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be fou…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimates or modelling it holds of the number of joint tenancies that may not be subject to the rent cap, in situations where some tenants are moving out and others are remaining in the property.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 is an emergency response to provide additional protection to people who rent their home during the cost crisis. It aims to ensure that the majority of tenants - including those who are part of a joint…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many tenancies currently in operation may not be covered by the rent cap.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 aims to ensure that the majority of tenants living in the private rented sector are protected by the temporary, emergency measures. Tenancies under the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 are exempt from the te…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some joint tenancies, in situations where some tenants are moving out and others are remaining in the property, are reportedly not covered by the rent cap.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Private Residential Tenancy was designed so that one tenant cannot terminate a joint tenancy on behalf of all the joint tenants, as this could result in a person who wished to stay in the let property being made homeless when another tenant chooses to lea…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has approved under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in each of the last five financial years, broken down by (a) quarter and (b) local authority area.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These statistics relate to the number of approvals, site starts and completions of social and affordable homes, and can …
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will launch an internal review to consider the reasons that the number of approved homes as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme has reportedly dropped by 50% since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Paul McLennan: We are aware of the global issues affecting construction which are impacting housing delivery so are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate this where possible. For example, the Scottish Government is a member of the C…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for how long an approval under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme remains valid.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Offers of grant funding to councils and Registered Social Landlords under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are not time limited. While the vast majority of affordable housing projects are delivered as planned following approval, any decision to withdra…
3 Jul 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last audited any outstanding Affordable Housing Supply Programme approvals, and what the findings were of any such audit.
Answer · Paul McLennan: We constantly monitor the flow of approvals through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. While council and Registered Social Landlord projects which are seeking grant funding in excess of the relevant affordable housing investment benchmark are subject to…
21 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to illuminate its buildings in blue to "Go Blue for Meso" and mark Action Mesothelioma Day on 7 July 2023.
Answer · Michael Matheson: St. Andrews House and Victoria Quay were illuminated in blue on 7 th July to mark Action Mesothelioma Day.
20 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what the timetable for the Housing Bill is, in light of reports that it has been delayed until spring 2024.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: We remain committed to bringing forward housing legislation to deliver the new deal for tenants and homelessness prevention duties. However, the exact timing is subject to ongoing discussion as part of wider legislative planning. The Government's legislative…
19 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what surveys it conducts that are comparable to the English Private Landlord Survey.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government utilises a range of data sources which provide comparable information on many of the topics covered by the English Private Landlord Survey. The Scottish Landlord Register provides information on the portfolio size of private rented pr…