The recent meeting with senior civil servants from the Scottish Government to consider how the Affordable Housing Supply Programme will operate in the future had a strong RIHAF presence, with two representatives attending from the Forum - Treasurer Martin Polhammer and Donald Lockhart of Albyn Housing Society.

The meeting, which was brokered by the SFHA, was RIHAF's opportunity to ask the questions relevant to its members in light of the government proposing a 3-year funding commitments for development funding.

The 6 key requests were:

• That it is recognised that rural/island development costs are often higher and that funding levels put forward are a benchmark not a cap.
• That funding should be on a programme and not on a site specific basis
• That stage payments would be useful rather than one large one off transaction.
  
• That there is a continuing role for the Housing Investment Division, and that approval of schemes should not be passed to local authorities
• That any sites who have received HAG should have that HAG discounted for the purpose of a new grant application.
• That there is no restriction on new build rents.
  

RIHAF is not encouraging dramatically increased rents, but rather that the flexibility is there to raise rent levels on new build homes if organisations decide to do so. Treasurer Martin Pollhammer gave updates on the outcomes of the informal consultation at the recent RIHAF meeting.

Martin said:

"The meeting appeared very productive, but until the final grant rules are published we will not know for sure. There is recognition that whatever the funding level is, for RSLs it's a benchmark and not a cap, and there will be a role for RIHAF here going forward to ensure that where rural and island schemes justifiably require above benchmark funding, that it is secured.

"We also had productive discussions on all other matters we raised, finding either general agreement or receiving commitments that the issues raised will be given further consideration before the final rules are published."

Most significantly, it was confirmed that a benchmark of £45,000 could be used as a working assumption [until funding criteria are announced] for wholly affordable rented developments.

Keith Brown MSP welcoming the RIHAF/SFHA joint response to the Scottish Social Housing Charter consultation. The redrafted version of the Charter - which was published on January 16 2012 - has been reduced in form from 71 to 16 outcomes. The final version will take effect from April 2012.

Keith Brown (pictured) MSP said in his letter:

"...We appreciate there are some genuine concerns, particularly about the number and clarity of the outcomes that should be in the Charter. We will be addressing these points, along with the others that we've received so that the Charter is a simple, easy to understand document that helps all social landlords deliver good outcomes for their tenants - not a burden that distracts them from getting on with their job."

RIHAF had supported the SFHA's Alternative Charter and both organisations are pleased that a number of the suggested changes have been taken on board. RIHAF noted at its January meeting that there were still some concerns about the revised Charter and were assured that the SFHA has submitted detailed comments on the revised Charter to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, and gave oral evidence to the committee on 25th January 2012. The Committee will present its recommendations to Parliament soon.

SFHA Policy and Strategy Director Maureen Watson commented to RIHAF on the redrafted Charter:

"It's much smaller, it's much better and it's much closer to the Alternative Charter that we all supported."

The Charter aims to help to improve the quality and value of the services that Scottish landlords deliver to their tenants and other customers. The revised Charter covers the following areas:

• Equalities
• Communication
• Participation
• Quality of Housing
• Repairs, maintenance and improvements
• Estate Management, anti social behaviour, neighbour nuisance and tenancy disputes
• Housing options
• Access to social housing
• Tenancy sustainment
• Homeless people
• Value for money
• Rents and Service Charges
• Gypsies/Travellers

A downloadable version of the revised Charter is available from the SFHA website HERE

Following the published report on a Minimum Income Standard (MIS) for rural areas in England from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) in November 2010, RIHAF is working with the JRF and other partners to conduct a similar research project for Scotland.

The published research was carried out by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University and produced successful results. The Minimum Income Standard project is an ongoing programme of research in the UK. The report concluded that the cost of living in rural areas in England was 20% higher than urban areas. RIHAF are keen to see was a similar report undertaken in Scotland. RIHAF Chair Di Alexander commented:

"RIHAF believes that policy discussions and decisions in Scotland would benefit from the very high quality of the totally independent research evidence which the MIS programme is able to offer. The proposed research has the potential to reshape our understanding of rural and island areas and improve the ways we choose to invest public and private money in them."

Loughborough University submitted its proposal for similar Scottish research to RIHAF at the end of 2011. It will be a costly project, but RIHAF is negotiating with other relevant organisations, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise, in order to share the burden.

RIHAF feels similar research is vital in order to evidence what is already known anecdotally - that rural areas are more expensive to live in. East Lothian HA's Chief Executive Martin Pollhammer stated:

"It needs to be a robust academic piece of work, looking at issues across Scotland, and it needs to be updatable. This research has the potential to reshape the way we think about our rural and island areas, and the way we invest in them."

It is hoped that the report could be published in 2013.

A downloadable version of the English MIS research project is available from the MIS website: HERE

RIHAF welcomes the Scottish Federation of Housing Association's success in influencing a decision made in the House of Lords. In December 2011, the SFHA, NHF and other partner organisations managed to influence the Lords to support Lord Best's amendment to the government's proposals to penalise tenants who are under-occupying their property.

The amendment, proposed by Lord Best, represents a small victory for the continuous battle to amend the Welfare Reform Bill. SFHA and its sister federations, alongside a large number of other concerned organisations, lobbied MPs encouraging them to support the amendment when the Bill returned to the Commons. Unfortunately, the Bill was overturned by a majority of MPs. The Bill - which is currently at Report Stage in the House of Lords - has undergone several amendments.

Given the even more significant impact on rural and island areas (with higher costs of living and lack of alternative accommodation), the amendment is an important step forwards and it is hoped we will be adopted into final legislation.

Copies of SFHA's lobbying letters and other information about the impact of the Welfare Reform Bill can be found on the SFHA website: www.sfha.co.uk

For information on other policy issues reported to RIHAF in January, download a copy of the report HERE:

Chair of RIHAF Di Alexander has completed a report for Carnegie Trust UK on ‘The Effectiveness of Rural Housing Burdens'.

The report states:

"The Rural Housing Burden (RHB) mechanism introduced in Scotland in 2004 allows a legal obligation to be placed in the title deeds of a rural house/house plot which ensures that whenever it is sold, the discount included in the original purchase price (typically derived from a plot acquisition price well below market value) can be retained in perpetuity in all subsequent sales of the property."

The 53-page report goes on to examine how RHB's evolved and what key policy areas they aimed to address, how RHB's work, how the mechanism has been received thus far and also looks at similar schemes across the rest of the UK and Ireland.

The study raises many key policy questions, and suggests looking again at the role affordable homeownership mechanisms can play in the light of over arching value for public money considerations, holistic housing system well being considerations, tenure-specific considerations and the best long-term interests of rural communities.

Chair Di Alexander said:

"It was my job to find out how effective rural housing burdens have been - and up to this point the answer appears to be ‘not as effective as they could have been but plenty of untapped potential'.

"The first step for housing associations is simply to go to the Scottish Government and apply to be a Rural Housing Body. Only recognised housing organisations with affordable housing at the heart of their association can be considered."

A PDF of the report can be found on Carnegie Trust UK's website www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk and Di Alexander has urged anyone interested in finding out more to contact him for information.

RIHAF has had another successful financial year, with RIHAF Chair, Di Alexander commenting that the latest treasurer's report and membership status appeared "very encouraging".

The report, presented at RIHAF's January meeting by Treasurer Martin Pollhammer, indicated that RIHAF finances were stable and able to support the organisations work at current levels, plus make a significant contribution to the JRF research project, should it be commissioned.

All 34 RIHAF members renewed their membership this year, a clear indication that the Forum has the continued support of a wealth of housing associations across rural and island Scotland. However, the drive to promote the Forum is still relevant and RIHAF was pleased to welcome two new members in the form of Age Scotland and Berwickshire Housing Association, and continues to seek new members.

RIHAF Treasurer Martin Pollhammer said:

"It's great to see our members not only renew, but to welcome new members too. As a result, our membership is now at the highest level that it has been for many years."