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An internal review of the Home Owners Support Fund began in the Spring and will complete later this year. If Ministers decide to make any changes to the eligibility or operational arrangements for the scheme updated guidance will be published.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10243 on 7 September 2022 which shows the number of successful applications to the Home Owners Support Fund in the last 6 years. Where a social landlord acquires a property through the scheme, the homeowner will remain in their home on Scottish Secure Tenancy terms. The Scottish Government does not collect data on homeowners’ circumstances after their application has successfully concluded.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The average apartment rental charges have not been routinely published up to this point as we have considered this an operational matter. Figures are updated each year in line with CPI inflation figures and grant calculations are shared with social landlords before the purchase of a property is agreed. Going forward, the publication of annual rental charges will be looked at as part of the wider scheme review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10262 on 7 September 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested. Property thresholds are being considered as part of the review.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

My officials give priority to cases with repossession orders and where a trustee is forcing the sale of a property, the requirement for secured loan payments to be 3 months in arrears will be waived. The Scottish Government does not hold data relating to the number of these types of applications that have been processed.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on enquiries relating to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF). The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) schemes are delivered as part of the HOSF programme. Each application is assessed on a case by case basis to determine which scheme best meets the applicant’s needs. During the last six years there have been no cases eligible for MTSE, due to the circumstances of applicants not meeting the eligibility criteria, in particular applicants with complex debts.

The following table shows the number of applications received during each of the last six years, the number of applications successfully completed and the number of cases closed due to ineligibility. Mortgage to Rent is a voluntary scheme and participation from applicants, lenders, trustees and social landlords is required for a case to succeed.

The Scottish Government does not collect data in relation to the turnaround of unsuccessful applications. The following table shows the average processing time in months for successful applications during each of the last six years.

HOSFGN/002 was published in April 2017. The Home Owners Support Fund property threshold guidance is being considered as part of the current review and will be updated if required.

As the programme progresses, we will gather information from our Single Building Assessments to compile a register of buildings that have been assessed through the programme. Local Authorities will be asked to provide relevant information.

We are currently working with 7 buildings to finalise assessments ahead of remediation. We have asked developers, as part of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord, to supply data on work that is being undertaken and privately agreed between residents and developers.

The Cladding Remediation Unit was set up in June 2021 in the Local Government and Communities Directorate. The expenditure on staff whose primary role is to support the programme is:

a)

Core Scottish Government: 2021 - £241,280.00

Core Scottish Government: 2022 (until July) - £113,635.44

Interim contractors 2021 - £52,938.90

Interim contractors 2022 (until July) - £105,369.00

b) Since the start of the Single Building Assessment programme in June 2021 we have grant funded £432,613.63 to support 12 buildings who are currently undergoing assessment. We have a further £510,553 in committed spend to finish these buildings assessments and support 3 additional buildings in starting their assessments through the grant funding model. We have an additional 29 buildings where we will use procurement functions to hire fire engineers and access contractors to begin assessments.