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In general terms, in the event that any Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, including the Additional Dwelling Supplement, is due in relation to a transaction it could not be reclaimed.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) provides support for Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords to purchase off the shelf properties where it can be demonstrated that this is the most appropriate method of meeting housing need in a particular area. Funding may also be made available to remodel/rehabilitate existing properties where this is considered a strategic priority.

Whilst we hold information on the number of off the shelf properties supported through the AHSP, we do not hold information on whether those properties are former right-to-buy properties. The table containing the off the shelf homes supported through the main AHSP grant programme for the last 5 full financial years, broken down by Local Authority Area and Local Authority or Registered Social Landlord who purchased the properties, has been placed in SPICe under BIB number 62721. The table does not include figures relating to new build off the shelf properties.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number and percentage of domestic and non-domestic buildings taller than 11m. The High Rise Inventory: Summary Report provides relevant information on external wall systems of domestic high rise buildings over 18m. Since 1 April 2021, local authorities have been requested to notify the Scottish Government when a BS 8414 fire test has been used to prove compliance with building regulations. To date, there have been no BS 8414 fire test reports notified to the government.

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) pack contains the current criteria and guidance which will used by those undertaking the SBA in conjunction with the Scottish Advice Note. Visual and physical inspections will determine, as part of the SBA process, what needs to be removed on a building by building basis.

The Scottish Advice Note is used to help inform this process by determining the fire risk posed by external wall systems in multi-storey residential buildings. This process will determine which properties require mitigation or remediation.

The set out that people in receipt of a direct payment, Option 1 of Self-directed Support, may employ family members where this is deemed appropriate in certain prescribed circumstances.

The supporting does not relax any of the existing safeguarding measures in place when considering a family member as a Personal Assistant (PA). The guidance has been developed to re-inforce the flexibility already in place under existing SDS Regulations.

Local authorities should consider requests to employ family members on a case by case basis, taking into account the family member’s health, their capacity to provide the required care, and other welfare and wellbeing factors.

Scottish Government is aware of the Burgenland pilot project which has been underway since 2019. We understand that 250 relatives providing care for family members have participated in the pilot in a population of 20,000 people in receipt of care allowance. We are also aware that the model will be evaluated over the coming months.

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 outlines that individuals who choose to employ a Personal Assistant may employ family members where this is deemed appropriate, under certain circumstances. Joint COSLA and Scottish Government Covid-19 Self-directed Support guidance currently advises that consideration to employ family members on a temporary basis should be given, particularly if family members lose income as a result of taking on a caring role during the pandemic period.

The guidance is available on the Scottish Government website and is currently being updated: 

The Scottish Government collects information on households who apply to Local Authorities for homelessness assessment. This includes information on reasons for homelessness, including evictions, but does not include information on the time between evicted households having their tenancy terminated and formally presenting to the local authority. There are currently no plans to assess the feasibility of collecting this data.

Not all evicted households experience homelessness and approach their local authority for help, and not all who do will necessarily be assessed as homeless.

Landlords and lenders are legally required to inform the relevant local authority when they take action that puts a household at risk of homelessness due to eviction by completing a Section 11 Notice. On receiving notification, the local authority should take the most pro-active approach possible to prevent homelessness occurring appropriate to the particular case.

All current Scottish Government Homelessness data collections, their guidance and the resulting publications can be found .

We note the publication of Shelter Scotland’s Understanding the True Cost of Evictions in Scotland report and will study the details as part of our wider consideration of evidence around this area. We have reservations about the report’s treatment of rent arrears costs as part of the analysis and will engage with Shelter Scotland to gain an understanding of the work that has been carried out.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that eviction for rent arrears is a last resort. A social landlord must have exhausted all attempts to resolve rent arrears with the tenant before taking action to evict. The Scottish Government and Social Landlords reaffirmed our joint commitment to supporting people to keep their homes and avoid eviction where tenants are struggling through no fault of their own to manage their rent in our Shared Statement: Social landlords working together with tenants to avoid evictions: published on 25 June 2021.

Part 1: Committed costs of the advertising to date total £435,162.73. Part 2: The campaign is planned to run from 19 August-26 September 2021 with a further burst of activity from 25 October-14 November 2021. Part 3 :The campaign target audience is all adults in Scotland and the campaign is forecast to reach 95.2% of those.

The following tables give the volume and value of applications for each local
authority area in each of the last 5 years. This breaks down into applications,
subsequent offers, expired loans with accepted offers and loans not accepted
before expiry date.

Table 1: Volume and value of HES loan applications by local authority area in
2021-22 to end July