Rural Housing Service - Case Study: Colonsay

Case Study: Colonsay Housing Initiative - Page 2 previous page · next page

Background to the Housing Initiative
Colonsay Housing Strategy
Colonsay Housing

New housing at Scalasaig

New housing at Scalasaig

Background to the Housing Initiative
In May 1999, the Rural Housing Service received a call from Andrew Abrahams, an oyster farmer on Colonsay, asking for help to highlight the housing problems on the island. He related how he wanted to take on someone to work at the Oyster Farm but that there was no housing for them on the island. He also highlighted how poor housing and limited housing choice was causing local families to leave the island and contributing to its depopulation. He asked if the Rural Housing Service could help to solve some of the island's housing problems.

In September 1999, Derek Logie from the Rural Housing Service visited Colonsay to meet with local people and discuss what they saw as the main housing related problems on the island.

The main problems identified by the community were:
· limited housing choice - 38% of the islands households live in Colonsay Estate houses
· limited social rented housing on the island
· external pressures on the owner occupation market from holiday homes
· limited access to land to build new housing and high cost of building
· poor condition of Colonsay Estate houses
· short and insecure tenancy agreements from Colonsay Estate
· lack of housing available for incoming families

map of Colonsay

image produced from the Ordnance Survey
Get-a-Map service

The community identified an increase in the housing options and choice available to islanders as essential to meeting housing needs, reducing dependency on Colonsay Estate and creating housing opportunities for people to come to the island. The increase in the housing options and security of the population would they hoped help to stabilise the population and lead to further sustainable development of Colonsay.

Despite the many housing problems facing the island there were no plans to develop further social housing there. The local housing association, West Highland HA had only two people on its waiting list for the 4 houses it had developed in 1994 at the cost of £400,000.

However with support from Scottish Homes and Argyll & the Islands Enterprise it was decided that the Rural Housing Service should develop a housing strategy for the island, to investigate housing conditions and needs and to suggest ways in which the different housing issues could be addressed.

Colonsay Housing Strategy
The main points from the Housing Strategy are outlined below:

· Colonsay Housing
There are a total of 89 houses on the island of Colonsay. These are split between the settlements of Kilchattan (27), Scalasaig (24), Kiloran (15), Glassard (8), Uragaig (4), Machrins (3) and the small settlements at the south of the Island (8).

There are 50 houses that are fully occupied on the island - 55% of the total stock. The remaining 39 houses are holiday homes/lets (34:38%), church properties (2:2%), empty properties (2:2%), and 1 part -occupied (1:1%).

Holiday homes make up the largest single category of housing on Colonsay - 38% (34), the next largest is Colonsay Estate rented property which accounts for 25% (22) of the stock, owner occupied housing represents 22% (20) of the stock. Public sector housing on the island accounts for just 9% (8) of the total stock. The last council house let was in 1987.

· Colonsay Estate
Colonsay Estate owns the majority of the island of Colonsay. The land holding includes the Estate Farms at Garvard, Scalasaig, Balnahard, Baleromindubh and Machrins. There are small parts of the island, which are not owned by the Estate, mainly croft land in Kilchattan and the Glebe land at the Church of Scotland Manse in Scalasaig.

Colonsay Estate dominates the housing market on Colonsay . The Estate owns 44 properties on Colonsay - 49% of all housing on the island. Currently, 22 of their properties are let to island households, 19 are let as holiday houses, 2 are empty and 1 - Colonsay House - is occupied by the Estate Owner, the Howard family. The Estate owns all the houses in the settlements of Kiloran and Machrins and substantial amounts of property in Kilchattan and Scalasaig.

· Holiday Homes/Lets back to top
There are 34 houses on Colonsay which are used as holiday accommodation. This represents 38% of all housing on the island. In addition there are holiday chalets at Scalasaig and holiday flats in Colonsay House.

Colonsay has over 5 times the level of holiday homes in Argyll & Bute generally, where 7% of housing are second and holiday homes.

Nineteen of the holiday properties are owned by Colonsay Estate and let as holiday houses. Eight other properties are let as holiday homes; four by island residents. The remaining 7 houses are used by their owners as holiday homes and are generally not let commercially.

The last three houses sold on Colonsay were bought for holiday homes or to let as holiday houses.

The main impact of this pressure from external buyers on the Colonsay Housing Market is to raise the cost of housing for sale and the price expectations of house sellers.

new housing on Colonsay

new housing on Colonsay

· Owner Occupation
There are 20 homes that are occupied full-time by their owners including three houses which were bought through Right to Buy from Argyll & Bute Council by their current owners. Three houses were built by their owners, one with a Rural Home Ownership Grant from Scottish Homes.

There is currently a substantial amount of house construction being undertaken on Colonsay. However construction costs are high (£75,000 - £100,000) because most tradesman and all materials have to be imported on the ferry. Land for sites is difficult to get and when available sites tend to be expensive: £15-20,000 per house plot.

· Rented Housing
Colonsay Estate owns all the private rented housing on Colonsay. The estate let 22 houses on a permanent basis; 15 are let on assured or short assured tenancies, four are let as part of Agricultural Tenancies and a further three are croft tenancies. The lack of long term tenancies is the main reason people did not feel confident in their housing futures on Colonsay, and in turn their ability to remain on the island.

The rents charged by the Estate depend on the type of tenancy agreement. Assured tenants generally pay between £100 - £150 per month. Short Assured tenants can pay between £300 and £400 per month in rent.

The private rented sector represents 44% of the occupied housing stock on the island, compared to 16% in Argyll & Bute as a whole and 8.5% in Scotland.

West Highland Housing Association have 4 houses on the island at Scalasaig built in 1994. The houses are three bedroom semi-detached and barrier-free and were first let in November 1994. There has subsequently been one re-let in July 1996.

WHHA currently have one applicant on their waiting list with Colonsay as an area of first choice.

Argyll & Bute Council Housing Department have two houses (4% of occupied stock) on the island. The council originally had 5 houses, which were bought from Colonsay Estate in 1980. Three have been sold on to sitting tenants through Right to Buy with discount - the last in 1994 for £16,400.

The last re-let of a council house on Colonsay was on 4 June 1987. The council currently have eleven applicants registered on their waiting list for housing on Colonsay - 11% of the island population.

There are also two houses on the island, which are let to the schoolteacher and the doctor. The District Nurse is a tenant of Argyll & Clyde Health Board who sub-let a house from Colonsay Estate.

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