Rural Housing Guide
This guide is designed to help communities to take action on local housing issues. It contains information on the key elements required to develop a community housing project and highlights successful developments by communities across Scotland. The guide is a joint initiative of DTAS and the Rural Housing Service.
Click the links to go to the relevant page.
Introduction - so you want to build houses?
What is Affordable Housing - overview
Case Studies - list of all the Rural Housing Guide case studies
- Strathmashie, Laggan - where the community bought and renovated empty forestry houses
- Crianlarich Railway Houses - renovation of derelict railway houses
- Knoydart Foundation - renovation of empty property and new community owned houses built with Scottish Government grant
- West Harris Trust - providing house plots at low cost
Getting Started - checklist and first steps
- Community Engagement - checklist
- Local Housing Strategies - links to Local Development Plans / Housing Strategies for all the Scottish rural local authorities
- Strategic Housing Investment Plans - links to the rural local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs)
- Local Planning Policies - links to each local authority's local plan
Assessing Housing Need - introduction and checklist
- Housing Need Surveys - different ways of conducting the survey
- Local House Prices - gathering information
- Second Homes - impact on the local housing market
Developing Affordable Rural Housing - introduction
- Housing Associations + Councils - working with partners to deliver affordable rented housing
- Community Trusts - content to follow
- Land - availability of land for housing development in rural Scotland
- Planning - checking local planning policies
- Identify Potential Sites - suggestions for identifying sites
- Housing Site Checklist - questions to check for each potential site
- Infrastructure - are water supplies, sewerage, drainage, roads, etc, available?
- Empty Homes - renovating empty property
- Rural Housing Burdens - Rural Housing Burdens (special right of pre-emption) and Rural Housing Bodies
Finance - overview
- Affordable Rent - calculating the level of rent is crucial
- Low Cost Home Ownership - information about low cost home ownership, including Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT)
- Rural Home Ownership Grants
- Croft House Grants - the Croft House Grant Scheme
- Grants - Scottish Government Innovation Fund and Second Homes Council Tax funding
- Loans - includes a worked example of a mid market rent housing project
Managing Rural Housing - introduction to being a landlord
- Allocation Policies - how to allocate properties fairly and transparently
- Knoydart Foundation Allocation Policy - an example in practice
- Local Lettings Initiatives - an example from Orkney
Support - how to get help
This guide is a joint initiative by Rural Housing Scotland and DTA Scotland