Councillors have approved an updated plan to provide additional affordable social housing across Perth & Kinross.

The Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) sets out how Scottish Government funding for the development of affordable housing will be invested to support the delivery of the Local Housing Strategy for Perth and Kinross. The Local Housing Strategy (2016-21), approved by the local authority’s housing and health committee in May 2016, identifies a number of key priorities:

The SHIP is require to be updated annually and submitted to the Scottish Government. A meeting of the housing and communities committee yesterday was asked to approve the updated plan.

Committee convener, Councillor Peter Barrett, said: “There is a high demand for housing in Perth and Kinross, which is set to continue given the projected increase in population over the next 15-20 years.

“It is therefore essential that more new homes are built to meet these needs. Due to a number of factors and influences such as land acquisition and planning processes, it is necessary to review and re-prioritise the SHIP on an ongoing basis.”

A report to the committee says the target for social housing completions in the Local Housing Strategy is 150 houses a year. During 2017/18, a total of 161 additional homes were completed between the council and its registered social landlord partners. This figure excludes 41 Buy Backs (ex-council stock) purchased by the council.

The report also states that the current plan is for 1,483 additional affordable houses to be started on site for the council and its partners by April 2025. This figure does not include 188 houses which are currently on site, or will start on site before April 2019.

Councillor Barrett added: “It is one of our highest priorities as a council to provide as much affordable, high quality accommodation as we can for people in Perth and Kinross. We are doing this through a number of innovative projects such as our new-build programme, Buy Backs and bringing empty properties back into use as housing. We also work very closely with local partner housing providers to ensure we are delivering housing which meet the needs of our communities, especially the most vulnerable people in those communities.”