Uist Affordable Housing StudyFinal Report

31st January 2018

North Uist Development CompanyCladdach Kirkibost Centre, Isle of North Uist, HS6 5EP

T: 01876 580 331 E: nudc@isleofnorthuist.com www.isleofnorthuist.com www.facebook.com/isleofnorthuist

A Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee No. 383175Scottish Charity Number. SC041709

1. Introduction

1.1 This study was created by the North Uist Development Company (NUDC) and North Uist Community Council (NUCC) to assess the current demand for Affordable Housing on Uist.

1.2 Affordable Housing is defined as “housing of a reasonable quality that is affordable to people on modest incomes…affordable housing may be in the form of social rented accommodation, mid-market rented accommodation, shared ownership, shared equity and discounted low cost housing for sale.”1

1.3 This report sets out findings from the survey research carried out. It combines qualitative and quantitative research to provide a comprehensive and comprehensible analysis of the demand for Affordable Housing on Uist.

2. Background

2.1 In March 2016, Scottish Ministers announced More Homes Scotland (MHS), a new programme to support the increase in supply of homes, including a target to deliver 50,000 affordable homes nationally by 2021/22.

2.2 In June 2017, the Scottish Government informed the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, as Strategic Housing authority for the area, that funding available for affordable housing would be substantially increased in order to assist local authorities to meet the national target.

2.3 This funding gives the Comhairle an estimated £25.14m for the period up to 2020/2021. This is roughly three times the funding that would usually be allocated for the same period:

- 2018/19: £7.533m- 2019/20: £8.522m- 2021/21: £9.092m

2.4 The Comhairle is required to submit a Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) to the Scottish Government on an annual basis. The purpose of the SHIP is to set out the Comhairle’s housing investment priorities over a five year period, as informed by the objectives of the Local Housing Strategy (LHS). The most recent LHS for 2017-22 was approved in October 2017.

2.5 The SHIP primarily identifies proposals for the priorities for investment through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP). The SHIP can include affordable housing supply through new provision, replacement of existing stock or through rehabilitation. It can include social rented housing, low cost home ownership and shared equity schemes. It provides details of the number of units proposed, their location, tenure type, the Government funding to provide these units and the likely completion date. 1 Scottish Government, ‘Scottish Planning Policy’ (2010), pg 17, section 86.

2.6 The SHIP identifies two areas for the provision of new housing: the Stornoway Housing Market Area, which encompasses Stornoway and the Broadbay area, and the Rural Market Area, which encompasses the remaining areas of the Outer Hebrides.

2.7 The SHIP has been produced by the Comhairle in partnership with Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP), the only mainstream Registered Social Landlord in the Outer Hebrides. The Comhairle works closely with HHP to identify suitable sites for housing development. Feasibility Studies are commissioned (and jointly funded) on all potential sites, and the findings of these studies largely inform the affordable housing programme.

2.8 The proposed SHIP submitted to the Scottish Government for the period 2018/19 is based around a programme to increase the effective housing supply on the islands, through the provision of Affordable Housing. The proposed housing is primarily Social Rented accommodation, to be developed and managed by HHP. Additionally there will be a number of Shared Equity properties (also developed by HHP targeted towards first time buyers. Extra Care Housing also makes up a significant part of the overall SHIP.

2.9 In total, the five year development programme of the SHIP will see 347 new affordable units built throughout the islands, with the majority consisting of Social Rented and the remaining as Shared Equity. 256 of these units are programmed for the first three years of the SHIP, when the additional funding from the Scottish Government is in place.

3. Housing on Uist

3.1 One of the key areas taken into account by the Comhairle is the developing initiative to retain and grow the population in remote rural areas. As well as setting out a number of mainstream rural housing developments, the SHIP has proposed the development of a number of targeted Rural Regeneration sites.

3.2 Unfortunately for Uist, the SHIP submitted to the Scottish Government in 2017, laying out its five year development programme for 2018-23, was heavily weighted towards the Stornoway Market Area, with little investment in the Rural Market Area.

3.3 This would mean that Uist would only receive 29 Affordable Housing Units in the next 5 years. All of these units would be Social Rented Accommodation, with no Shared Equity available in Uist.

3.4 HHP waiting lists are used to provide an indicator of demand for Social Rented accommodation on Uist. They are however, not suitable for indicating demand for purchasing housing through Shared Equity schemes.

3.5 The North Uist Development Company, the North Uist Community Council and other local stakeholders including Taigh Chearsabhagh (one of the planned Rural Regeneration sites in year 5 of the current SHIP) therefore decided to design and distribute a survey to assess the demand for both residents of Uist and those living outside of Uist but who have a connection here, for Affordable Housing, including particularly in the interest in Share Equity schemes.

3.6 It is hoped that this study will illustrate the high demand for the opportunity to purchase housing on Uist and will be taken into consideration for the annual review of the SHIP and future revisions for the next submission to the Scottish Government in 2018.

4. Methodology

4.1 The study makes use of bespoke questionnaires designed in collaboration with Taigh Chearsabhagh and in consultation with North Uist community members.

4.2 This study incorporates the following research activities:

Desk Research - Review of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Reports to the Communities and

Housing Committee- Any available statistics relevant to housing demand on Uist, and in the

Outer Hebrides more generally- Review of survey questionnaires from a 2016 housing survey, ‘The Uists:

Housing and Community Needs Survey’ ran by NUDC, Storas Uibhist, HHP and CnES, and carried out by the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust

- Drafting of a specific Affordable Housing survey questionnaire- Discussion with community and stakeholders to agree additions to the

questionnaire

Data collection and survey research covering - Organisations with links to Uist who could help promote the survey- Data presentation

Reporting  

- Final report

4.3 The questionnaire for this study was designed for self-completion on the Internet, through SurveyMonkey. A link to the survey was published on North Uist Development Company’s Facebook page on 23rd November 2017 and was reposted on two further dates. These posts reached 7,174 people, and were shared 33 times by a number of local organisations and individuals. The survey closed on 22nd December 2017.

4.4 Given the tight timescales attached to the delivery of the SHIP and the availability of the increased Scottish Government funding, it was important to design and distribute the survey as quickly as possible, and to ensure it was as clear and simple to complete. With a number of surveys distributed regularly throughout the Uist community, there is often a poor response rate. The survey was therefore kept short to try to attract as many responses as possible.

4.5 The survey consisted of 14 questions in total, though some of these only appeared depending on answers given in previous questions. Responses were collated and organised using SurveyMonkey’s tools, and then analysed by North Uist Development Company staff.

4.6 It should be noted that respondents did not answer all questions in the survey applicable to them. The report therefore provides a percentage of those respondents who answered each particular question.

4.7 A copy of the survey can be viewed here, and there is a Word version at the end of this report. The Word version is abridged as the actual online survey used path logic to direct respondents to furthers questions based on their answers.

4.8 The principal aim of the questionnaire was to find out, in general, the level of demand for the housing market on Uist. This included:

- Respondents’ location and what they liked about living, or potentially living, on Uist,

- Identifying if respondents’ would prefer living elsewhere on Uist, and where,

- Identifying the barriers to housing provision and whether respondents would be interested in renting or buying affordable housing,

- Identifying what type of accommodation was most sought after.

4.9 In total, 343 survey responses were received, with 254 living on Uist and 89 living outwith. This level of response gives us confidence in the representativeness and coverage of the survey, although the coverage of those living outwith is less extensive and the disaggregations of results related to this group should be treated with some caution.

5. Results & Analysis

This section sets out the findings of the survey of respondents. Most of the statistics are expressed as percentages of the number of respondents.

5.2 Location/Age

5.2.1 Of the 343 who responded, 74.1% are currently living on Uist, with 25.9% living outside of Uist.

5.2.2 Of those respondents living on Uist, the majority live on North Uist (54%), followed by South Uist (27%).

5.1 Executive Summary:

- The survey results show that the biggest barrier for respondents to live where they would like on Uist is the lack of housing in the area (45.5%), compared to cost of housing (28.6%) and lack of employment (25.9%). This supports evidence reported in The Uists: Housing and Community Needs Survey, 2016.

- 79.3% of respondents would be interested in a 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom house, meaning that many of the respondents are seeking housing for a family, and not just as individuals.

- Even though there are no Shared Equity schemes planned for Uist in the most recent SHIP submitted to the Scottish Government, it is clear there is good demand, especially in younger generations. 78.1% of those who responded would be interested in buying a property, with 36.6% interested in a Shared Equity scheme. This rises to 43.0% for those under 35.

- The majority of those respondents who live on Uist are happy where they are (84.5%) and the majority of those who responded who don’t live on Uist would like to relocate there (86.1%). This is largely due to the environment, safety, peace and quiet, and sense of community.

5.2.3 There was as good general spread of age ranges from respondents, though it is interesting that 28.3% of those living on Uist declined to give their age, compared to just 7.3% who live outside of Uist.

5.3 Living on Uist

5.3.1 Of those living on Uist, the majority of those who responded (84.5%) are happy where they are and would not like to relocate.

5.3.2 When asked why they liked living on Uist in an open-ended question, the following reasons were primarily given:

- Peace & Quiet- Safety- Space- Freedom- People/Community- Scenery/Natural Environment

5.3.3 Of those living on Uist who would prefer living elsewhere on Uist, the majority would like to live on North Uist, with a sizeable proportion preferring Berneray. As shown in 5.1.2, most of the respondents living on Uist live specifically in North Uist and so if they would prefer to live elsewhere on Uist, it seems likely that it would be on the same island. It should also be noted that a small number of the total respondents (26) living on Uist would like to relocate to elsewhere in Uist and so this figure is not necessarily representative.

5.3.4 Of those living on Uist and who would prefer to live elsewhere in Uist, 73.1% have connections there.

5.4 Living outside of Uist

5.4.1 For those respondents living outside of Uist, 86.1% would like to live on Uist.

5.4.2 In an open-ended question as to why respondents would like to move to Uist, the most common answers were:

- Born and raised there- Safety- Family connections- Scenery/Setting

- Retirement

5.4.3 By far the largest amount (53% - including when given as a joint answer) of those who would like to live on Uist, would like to move to North Uist, followed by South Uist (29%).

5.4.4 Of those who responded, 75.8% of those have connections where they would like to move to.

5.5 Barriers to Housing

5.5.1 For those living outside Uist, the biggest barrier to living there is lack of housing in the area (42.9%), followed closely by lack of employment (39.3%).

5.5.2 Interestingly though, when this is broken down by age, it seems that those under 55 predominantly see the lack of employment as the biggest issue, with those over 55 seeing the biggest barrier as a lack of housing in the area.

5.5.3 For those living on Uist, they also see the biggest barrier to living where they like as lack of housing (46.6%), however this is followed instead by the cost of housing (33.1%). This follows on from the results of the Uist Housing Needs Report, which discovered that, for those on Uist who were prevented from moving to where they would like, the most popular reason for not moving was that there were no suitable properties followed by that there was nothing available within their preferred location.2

2 The Uists: Housing and Community Needs Survey, 2016, pg 22, section 5.4.2

5.5.4 When this is broken down by age again however it seems as though the younger age groups see both cost and lack of housing as the main barriers, with those over 45 giving more important to the lack of employment.

5.6 Accommodation

5.6.1 For those living outside of Uist, the majority (48.3%) would be most interested in a 3-bedroom property, with 31.0% looking instead for a 2-bedroom house.

5.6.2 When this is broken down by age group, those aged between 26 and 55 are predominantly seeking a 3-bedroom house, whilst those aged 18-25 and those aged over 55 would prefer a 2-bedroom house.

5.6.3 For those living on Uist, the figures are similar to those living outside, with the majority looking for a 3-bedroom house (42.6%) and 2-bedroom house (29.1%) however there is also a sizeable proportion interested in 4-bedroom houses (22%)

5.6.4 When this is broken down by age group however, it is interesting to note that the second preference for those aged 26-55 is for a 4-bedroom house, which fits with those who may have young families.

5.7 Buying vs. Renting

5.7.1 For those living on Uist, 40.5% would be most interested in buying a property with a mortgage, with 38.5% more interested in buying with the help of a Shared Equity scheme. Under table 12.0 for potential housing demand, the 2016 housing survey showed respondents would prefer to build their own homes. Whilst there was no option for this in the above survey, further preferences in the 2016 study showed the popularity of both buying a home and using a Shared Equity scheme to do so.3

3 The Uists: Housing and Community Needs Survey, 2016, pg 26, Table 12.

5.7.2 When this is broken down by age, the majority of those aged 18-35 would prefer a Shared Equity Scheme over a mortgage to buy (19.7% compared to 16.2%), whereas those over 35 would prefer buying with a mortgage rather than a Shared Equity (24.7% compared to 19.0%).

5.7.3 For those living outside Uist, 43.9% would be interested in buying with a mortgage, followed by 31.6% interested in buying with the help of a shared equity scheme.

5.7.4 When this is broken down by age, it seems the younger age groups would prefer to buy with a mortgage, although it is interesting to note that renting social housing becomes more popular in those aged above 45.

Appendix 1.

Is there a house on Uist for you?The Scottish Government will be giving £25 million to the Comhairle over the next three years as part of their bid to deliver 50,000 affordable homes in Scotland by 2021. This is three times more than is usually received, and has the potential to build a number of affordable houses on Uist. North Uist Development Company and North Uist Community Council would therefore like to find out if you live here, or would like to live here, what your need for housing is.

1. Do you live on Uist?a. Yesb. No

2. If no, would you like to relocate to Uist?a. Yesb. No

3. What is your age range?a. 18-25b. 25-35c. 35-45d. 45-55e. Over 55

4. Which area would you like to live in?a. Free text

5. Why would you like to live here?a. Free text

6. Do you have connections there?a. Yesb. No

7. What is the biggest barrier to living where you would like?a. Lack of housing in the areab. Lack of employmentc. Cost of housingd. Other – please state:_______________________________

8. If you already live here, what do you like about living here?a. Free text

9. What type of accommodation would you want or need?a. Flatb. 1 Bedroom Housec. 2 Bedroom Housed. 3 Bedroom Housee. 4 Bedroom House or larger

10. Would you be most interested in –a. Renting - social housingb. Renting – private landlordc. Help to Buy scheme (i.e. Shared Equity)

d. Buying with mortgage11. Where do you currently live?

a. freetext