Rural Housing Service - Case Study: Argyll & Bute

Case Study: Argyll & Bute Care & Repair Project - page 2 previous page · next page

· The Feasiblity Study
Area Profiles
· Bute & Cowal
· Helensburgh & Lomond
· Oban, Lorn & the isles of Mull, Iona, Coll & Tiree
· Mid Argyll, Kintyre, Islay, Jura & Colonsay
Project Management & Structure
The New Project
Funding

DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSAL, continued

· The Feasibility Study
The Development Group decided that the best route forward would be to conduct a Feasibility Study which would look into the need for a Care & Repair Project, highlight particular priority areas, consult extensively with communities and health professionals, and recommend how a project could be structured to account for the geography of Argyll and the variety of interests represented on the Development Group.

The Rural Housing Service undertook this study between March and June 2000. The study was funded by Argyll & Bute Council, Argyll & the Islands Enterprise, Scottish Homes and the Housing Associations Charitable Trust (HACT).

Housing Association Charitable Trust

Local House Conditions Survey

Local House Conditions Survey

The main elements of the study were an extensive literature review and data analysis of all the key documents and research reports on housing in Argyll since and including the Local House Conditions Survey in 1989. There was also a comprehensive consultation exercise with all GPs and community councils in Argyll & Bute, local housing associations, builders, health professionals.

Dunbritton Housing Association

Information on funding and how to structure a project covering remote and island areas was received from interviews with Angus Care & Repair; Arran Care & Repair, Orkney Care & Repair; Western Isles Care & Repair; Inverclyde Care & Repair and Caithness Care & Repair.

Feasibility Study Conclusions
Argyll & Bute has the highest level of Below Tolerable Standard housing in rural Scotland. Evidence from the Scottish House Conditions Survey is that older households in Argyll & Bute are twice as likely to live in BTS housing.

There are an estimated 3603 households with older people in Argyll living in houses that are Below Tolerable Standard. This is 55% of the total. Half of all older households are lone person households.

There is a high proportion of elderly households across Argyll but particularly in Bute & Cowal and rural and island communities. There is a particular problem with poor housing conditions in the private rented sector. All of the local housing market studies suggest the need for Care & Repair to be developed in each of the administrative areas.

There is strong support for the development of Care & Repair from all groups consulted and strong evidence of urgent need in particular areas. Poor housing conditions are common in all of the administrative areas of Argyll & Bute There are specific priority areas in Bute & Cowal; Oban, Lorn & the Isles and Mid Argyll, Kintyre, Islay, Jura & Colonsay.

The analysis of grant approvals finds that the elderly are significantly under-represented in the number of grant awards than would have been expected given the proportion of older households in the population and given the evidence from research that older households are more likely to occupy poor housing.

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