I expect I was not the only solicitor in private practice who was surprised by some of the content of the letter from Sarah Speirs, Director, RICS Scotland (Letters, July 4).
She stated that "the whole ethos behind the home report - is to improve the quality of Scotland's housing stock". If this is the case, why not treat them like MOTs for cars and, once a house is three years old, make it mandatory for every private home-owner to commission a home report – then compel them to carry out any repairs indicated as necessary? Surely if someone buys a house it is up to them to maintain it as their inclination and finances dictate. As it is, the local authority can order home-owners to repair their properties if they think this is necessary.
Ms Speirs also states that the home report is not a tool to regulate the housing market. This is exactly what it does.
As a property solicitor in Kilmarnock, I estimate that up to 50% of houses placed on the open market prior to the introduction of home reports were speculative sales, where the seller would proceed with the sale if an acceptable offer was received but if there was no acceptable offer within a reasonable period, they would withdraw their property from the market. Many of these properties sold, which led to further transactions and more activity in the market. This section of the market has disappeared as prospective sellers are simply not prepared to meet the large upfront costs if they are uncertain they will proceed with a sale. Therefore, the home report is, to some extent, regulating the housing market, and in a negative way.
Many less well-off house owners simply cannot afford the upfront costs associated with putting their property up for sale now, and in some cases this ultimately leads to repossession of these properties. Previously, without upfront costs, financially distressed sellers had the opportunity to achieve a sale of their property and to avoid repossession.
Also, the valuation element of home reports in repossession cases distorts the market. My understanding is that the valuation placed on repossessed properties is 80% of their true market value. This inevitably leads to these properties selling at a lower price, which can have a knock-on effect for sellers whose properties are near to properties which have sold following repossession.
What home reports have achieved is to transform our property market from one which was speedy and cheap to access to one which is slower and expensive to access.
The multiple survey problem had been solved well before home reports were introduced. Most offers were subject to survey (as they still are) and buyers could carry out whatever checks they wished before committing to the purchase.
When the home report system is reviewed later in the year, the reports should be made optional. Sellers who feel the home report is a useful marketing tool would still be able to commission one. Purchasers would be free not to offer for properties which did not have a home report. Anyone who wished to sell their house would be free to do so, without being hamstrung by heavy upfront costs. Isn't this how a free market is supposed to operate?
Alastair Cochrane,
7-9 Grange Place,
Kilmarnock.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is delighted that the Scottish Government has decided to bring to an end to all forms of the right to buy in Scotland ("Sturgeon calls time on right to buy revolution", The Herald, July 4).
The SFHA has long campaigned for the policy to be curbed or ended, as almost half a million social rented homes have been lost, mostly from local authority stock over the 33 years of this policy. The sales have often been of the houses in the more popular areas, leaving behind flats which are harder to live in and maintain. While our members have tried to replace the homes lost to renting, investment constraints have made it impossible to keep pace with these losses by building new stock.
The Scottish Conservatives say they are disappointed that the Scottish Government should end the policy. The party has argued that the policy allows landlords to invest the receipts from property sales, clearly unaware that this was already happening to some extent.
But the Conservatives claim the value of sales receipts to be roughly £15,000 per home. Let's just look at the arithmetic. It can cost around £120,000 per unit to build a three-person flat for social rent to modern energy-efficient standards. The sum of £15,000 barely pays for a plot of land for one house. Many social landlords are struggling to build in today's financial climate, with reduced grant levels and concern about resources in the face of welfare reform and other cuts. And the recession means housing associations are finding it harder and more expensive to borrow. Even if landlords were to use proceeds from the sale of right-to-buy properties to assist new-build programmes, there would still be a huge shortfall in the funding required to build new homes. So we strongly refute the argument that receipts from right-to-buy sales enables social landlords to build more homes.
We thank the Scottish Government for listening to the arguments which the SFHA and its members put forward. Ending the right to buy will retain much-needed housing for affordable rent when there are more than 300,000 households on housing waiting lists. We urge MSPs to support these proposals when they appear in the forthcoming Housing Bill.
Mary Taylor,
Chief executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations,
149 St Vincent Street,
Glasgow.
With the recent announcement regarding the abolition of the right to buy council homes placing the housing crisis firmly into focus, we would highlight the key issue at stake as overall housing supply.
Housing output has slumped to its lowest levels in 70 years, and it is estimated that 465,000 homes are needed in Scotland by 2035 to meet demand. However, recent build rates published by the Scottish Government point to a potential shortfall in the region of 140,000 by this time, when there are already significantly more people than that on housing waiting lists. Moving homes from one form of tenure to another does nothing to resolve this fundamental problem.
As an industry body with a membership providing 95% of new homes built for sale in Scotland as well as a significant proportion of affordable housing, Homes for Scotland has consistently called for an increase in housing stock across all tenures so that this and future generations have access to and the choice of a full range of quality, sustainable homes in places people want to live. Indeed, George Osborne recently announced increased capital spending powers for Scotland during 2015-16, which we have urged is channelled into areas which stimulate economic growth, including into the upfront infrastructure which is needed to unlock stalled housing developments across the country.
Philip Hogg,
Chief executive, Homes for Scotland,
5 New Mart Place, Edinburgh.
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