The draft LHS sets out Perth & Kinross Council’s priorities and plans for the delivery of housing and related services for the period 2016-2021.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 places a legal requirement on local authorities to produce a Local Housing Strategy which should be kept under regular review.

The four strategic housing objectives in Perth & Kinross over the next five years will be:

To create more affordable homes and manage existing stock to create homes in the size, type and location people want to live, with access to suitable services and facilities which encourage community integration.

To promote safe and secure communities for residents of Perth & Kinross with access to good quality, affordable accommodation, with the necessary support in place to sustain them in their homes and prevent them from becoming homeless.

To support people to live independently at home for as long as possible with help from the community and local support networks.

To support residents of Perth and Kinross to live in warm, dry, energy efficient and low carbon homes which they can afford to heat.

The consultation on the draft strategy is now live. Any comments or suggestions will be considered before a final copy of the strategy goes to the council’s housing and health committee for approval in May 2016.

Head of housing and strategic commissioning, Lorna Cameron, said: “We will consult a wide range of stakeholders during the consultation period to get a variety of different views on the draft strategy. The LHS is a very important document for the delivery of our housing services, and we would like as much input as possible from interested parties.

“Everyone can take part in the process by completing a short consultation questionnaire, and I would encourage people to make their views known.

“All comments we receive will be considered, and will feed into the final version of the LHS which will cover the next five years.

“Following approval of the new strategy, the actions will be implemented by our operational teams and partners and monitored regularly, with progress updates being prepared on an annual basis. Regular consultation will continue to take place with stakeholders through our Housing Forums and engagement with tenants and residents through our locality based working groups, as well as reviewing results from surveys and consultations.”

The draft LHS document is available to view on the council web site at www.pkc.gov.uk/housing, where there is also a link to a summary of the document and the online questionnaire for people to complete.

All responses should be returned by 19th April 2016.