BORDERS NEEDS MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING (Jim Hume)

BORDERS NEEDS MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

October 22, 2007 12:00 AM

Jim Hume, MSP for the South of Scotland, and David Raw, Councillor for East Berwickshire and Executive Member for Social Work on Scottish Borders Council, have today expressed their disappointment at the response of Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell in failing to meet their joint request for a meeting with Mr. Maxwell to discuss the urgent need for more Affordable Housing in the Borders.

Jim Hume said:-

"When the Minister was in Galashiels recently at a ribbon cutting opening of an Affordable Housing initiative funded by the previous Scottish Executive, we immediately made a written request to meet with him to discuss the lack of affordable housing in the Borders, and more generally in rural areas, particularly in relation to the work of the newly set up Scottish Borders Council Affordable Housing Task Force.

"It has taken the Minister over six weeks to reply and he now says he is unable to arrange a meeting, though he would like to be kept up to date with the Group's work.

The MSP continued:-

"Anyone who has tried to obtain social or affordable housing in the Borders or rural areas will know the chronic shortage of available and suitable properties, and it is a great pity that the Scottish Government has not taken this opportunity to look for workable solutions with the Borders Group.

"Bearing in mind the Minister's comments earlier this month that he was making affordable housing a top priority, it seems all the more regrettable that he was unable to fit our request for a short meeting into his diary.

"In the past it's always been reasonable to expect access to Ministers even on the proviso that it might take time given diary constraints, but to simply be refused a meeting without consideration of the complex issues at hand is less than helpful.

"I have asked the Minister for further advice as to precisely what his Department will do to ensure that local housing task force groups are met with during the course of the Scottish Government's work on affordable housing."

Councillor Raw commented:-

"We are facing an extremely difficult situation in the Scottish Borders Council Area. The average house price is over eight times higher than the average Borders income, the stock of social rented housing has dropped by 500 properties over the last two years, and the number of presentations to the Council for homelessness (often as a result of a sad family break up) has shot up to over 1,000 in the last twelve months. We need to produce at least 300 affordable properties a year over the next five years to make any impression on this problem - the number last year was just sixty.

As Executive Member for Social Work with responsibilities for housing on Scottish Borders Council, I have set up a member led Affordable Housing Task Force to examine fresh ideas and initiatives from throughout the UK to tackle this issue. We need to link up with senior officials at Communities Scotland if we are to make any impression on the problem. I hope the Minister will look again at this issue and support our efforts on behalf of the people of the Borders by setting up a meeting with him and senior officials as soon as possible."

Jeremy Purvis, MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale added:-

"It is extremely disappointed the Minister has refused to meet. This reverses a previous practice of access to ministers to discuss local housing needs and I want the Minister to reconsider. It is no good simply to make press announcements about previously committed investment into the Borders. The Minister must be involved with Scottish Borders Council's work in this crucial area."