RURAL AFFAIRS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

RURAL HOUSING INQUIRY

SUBMISSION FROM EAST COUNCIL

East Renfrewshire is characterised by two distinct areas - the former Eastwood District to the South of , and Levern Valley which is made up of part of the former District Council area.

Approximately two thirds of is rural farmland encompassing the villages of and in the Levern Valley area of the local authority, and Waterfoot and in the Eastwood area. The remaining area is made up of the mainly suburban residential areas of , , Clarkston, and the town of .

Within the classifications set out by Audit , the East Renfrewshire local authority area is identified as a “City and Urban”. However there are small settlements within the area that are considered locally to be rural in nature. The Urban Rural Classification published by the Scottish Executive in 2006, also identifies a small percentage (4.4%) of East Renfrewshire as having an “accessible rural” area. This normally refers to areas of below 3,000 of a population, which do not contain many services, but are 30 minutes or less drive time from a settlement of 10,000 or over.

Using local knowledge and analysis, some assumptions have been made for the purposes of this exercise which illustrate this figure. Taking into account settled areas with household population, 4.9% of the area can be classified as “rural”. This covers the self-contained villages of Uplawmoor and Eaglesham. The small settlement of Waterfoot is not categorised as a village in itself as it is almost entirely made up of residential properties, with no post office or shop. It is also within 1km of the main conurbation on the Eastwood side of the authority.

On the Levern Valley side of the authority, the village of Neilston is recognisable as a “rural” settlement in that it is a small village and is surrounded by greenbelt land. However, again it is a settlement which is within 1km of the main conurbation of Barrhead and therefore not considered for the purposes of this exercise to be rural.

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM Tenure Profile of Housing

The detail given below outlines the current make up of East Renfrewshire area and identified rural areas in term so housing tenure. Detail is also included on the Council’s current housing stock and turnover rates in respect of this stock.

East Tenure Scotland Renfrewshire Total number of households (with 34,950 2,192,246 residents) - % Owned 83.38 62.59 - % Rented from council 10.26 21.57

- % Other social rented 2.09 5.58 - % Private rented (Unfurnished) 1.18 3.10 - % Private rented (Furnished) 1.26 3.61

- % Living Rent Free 1.84 3.55 Census 2001 Figures for East Renfrewshire

Tenure Profile in Rural areas:

Settlement Total Owned** Council RSL Privately Of which Households* Rented are “Let to Family” ** Eaglesham 1364 1108 156 3 97 7 (81.2%) (11.4%) (0.2%) ( 7.1%)

Uplawmoor 219 199 10 1 9 2 (90.9%) (4.6%) (0.5%) (4.1%)

*Total Households taken from SCRO Online – Census 2001 ** % Owned – Census figures adjusted to take account of local data on RTB sales and Landlord Registration Scheme ** Identified as Let to Family and exempt from Landlord Registration Scheme (these have been included in calculation of Privately Rented properties) % do not necessarily total 100%, due to rounding.

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM Profile of Council Stock

Settlement Total Flats Houses/ Cottages Sheltered Council 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 Stock bed bed bed beds bed bed bed bed

Eaglesham 156 39 8 1 5 25 36 16 2 24

Uplawmoor 10 8 2

Source: ERC Stock Database as at April 2007

Turnover of Council Stock

Turnover 2005_ Turnover 2006_ Turnover Stock Relets Stock Relets Stock Relets % 2006 % 2007 %

2004_2005 Eaglesham 187 12 6.4 174 8 4.6 166 10 6 Neilston 183 11 6 181 9 5.0 176 8 4.5 North* ERC Total 3624 250 6.9 3372 284 8.4 3256 251 7.6 Source: ERC Waiting List and Stock Figures April 2007 *Uplawmoor figures are sourced from those applicants choosing the Neilston North Housing Management Area and cannot be separated out.

Extent of Unmet Housing Need

Details of the current Council waiting lists for properties in the rural areas identified are outlined below. These are based on applicants’ first choice of housing management area, size and type of property. Housing management areas have been defined locally as discrete, relatively self contained areas, for the purposes of management of council stock.

Applicants waiting for rehousing

Settlement Total Waiting List Applicants 1st Choice of Area Eaglesham 74 (4.2%)

Neilston North 1763 54 (3.1% - Neilston North Total) (including Uplawmoor)*

Source: ERC Waiting List April 2007 *Uplawmoor figures are sourced from those applicants choosing the Neilston North Housing Management Area and cannot be separated out.

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM Applicants waiting for rehousing by Bedrooms Required

Bedrooms Required

First Choice of Grand 0 1 2 3 Area Total 9 40 16 9 74 Eaglesham Neilston North (including 7 26 15 6 54 Uplawmoor) Grand Total 16 66 31 15 128 Source: ERC Waiting List April 2007 *Uplawmoor figures are sourced from those applicants choosing the Neilston North Housing Management Area and cannot be separated out.

Applicants waiting for rehousing by Preferred Property Types (1st choice)

1st Choice of Property Type

Own First Choice of Other Flat/ Door Sheltered Sheltered Tenement Grand Area Bungalow Cottage Maisonette Flat Bungalow Flat Flat Total Eaglesham 21 25 2 10 14 2 74 Neilston North 17 18 2 6 8 3 54 Grand Total 38 43 2 12 6 22 5 128

The following provides a profile of those applicants seeking social rented housing and who currently live in the rural areas identified. This outlines information from the Council’s waiting list only at this time. The implementation of the East Renfrewshire CHR, which is planned to take place in the early part of this year, will assist in improving data on demand for affordable housing across the Council and RSL sectors.

Uplawmoor There are currently 7 applications from people living within Uplawmoor - 4 single households, 2 couples and 1 family. All but one of these applicants are held on the general waiting list, with only one currently held on the medical priority list. 5 of these applicants have chosen Neilston North (which includes Uplawmoor) or Neilston South as their first or second choice of area for rehousing. This reflects the desire to remain within the local area despite the low levels of stock and turnover in the village.

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM Eaglesham There are currently 77 applicants from Eaglesham who are on the Council’s waiting list, the make up of which is as follows:

Household Type Total Couple 19 One parent family 12 Single Person 42 Two parent family 4 Grand Total 77

First Choice of Area for Rehousing Total Busby & 6 Second Choice of Area for Rehousing Total Eaglesham 55 Barrhead 19 Lower Auchenback 1 Busby & Netherlee 13 Neilston North 1 Eaglesham 10 Neilston South 1 Neilston and Uplawmoor 9 Newton Mearns 3 Newton Mearns 17 Thornliebank & Giffnock 10 Thornliebank & Giffnock 9 Grand Total 77 Grand Total 77

As highlighted above, the majority of applicants’ first choice of area is to remain within the village of Eaglesham; however there is some flexibility in that applicants are also willing to consider settlements in the wider Eastwood side of the authority, and in terms of second choices, some consideration of moving to the Levern Valley side of the authority area.

The majority of applicants (72) are on the general waiting list for housing, with only 5 applicants on medical or other priority lists. No applicants are waiting for rehousing who are currently recorded as homeless.

Nature of Unmet Housing Need (According to types and tenures of properties)

The detail given in the previous section provides a picture of the nature of unmet housing need amongst those who are actively seeking social rented accommodation in the identified rural areas.

East Renfrewshire Council is currently undertaking work on reviewing the Housing Needs Assessment which informs the Local Housing Strategy. This is in preparation for the second LHS which will be developed for July 2009. This work will allow for more detailed consideration of the potential requirement for other forms of affordable housing, such as Low Cost home Ownership, to meet identified needs within the local area. Wider assessment of local housing markets

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM will also allow us to build a picture of need and demand for housing across other tenures, such as the private rented sector. At present there is no local data available which would provide particular insight into this within the identified rural areas.

Affordability

As part of the work being undertaken to inform the review of the Housing Needs Assessment, specific analysis has been undertaken to consider the affordability of home ownership within local settlements, and whether this signifies a particular need for affordable housing in the area. Details of affordability in both of the rural settlements looked at is outlined below. Lower quartile sales levels are used to signal the properties normally accessible to those on lower incomes and first time buyers, and lower quartile incomes used to reflect the average incomes of households in this position.

Incomes

Household income for Levern Valley, Eastwood and East Renfrewshire Levern Valley Eastwood East Renfrewshire (applies to (applies to Uplawmoor) Eaglesham) Lower Median Lower Median Lower Median Quartile Quartile Quartile 2002 £9,100 £16,300 £12,500 £22,000 £11,300 £20,500 2006 £15,700 £25,000 £19,500 £32,200 £18,200 £30,000

Uplawmoor

Uplawmoor lower quartile, mean & median house sales values Year No of sales Lower Mean Median Quartile 2002/03 8 £67267 £112,802 £110,500 2003/04 8 £93250 £186,544 £191,500 2004/05 8 £140000 £237,015 £231,250 2005/06 12 £158000 £259,382 £247,999 2006/07 11 £250,000 £293,772 £276,000 *Includes RTB Sales, Second Hand Sales and New Build Sales **Note: Low number of sales, some of which are of very high value, are likely to skew average prices

In terms of affordability, the figures suggest that lower quartile income households would have been required to borrow over 7 times their income (assuming 100% borrowing) to afford a lower quartile value property in Uplawmoor in 2002. In 2006, this figure would have jumped to approximately 16 times income to afford to purchase a property. There are caveats to this data because of the low number of sales with some of significantly high value. This is

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM likely to skew the average sales values upwards. However, the overall picture in Uplawmoor is of significant pressure in terms of the affordability of housing.

Eaglesham

Eaglesham lower quartile, mean, median house values Year Lower Quartile Average Median 2002/03 £48,115 £86,703 £69,250 2003/04 £50,000 £105,917 £78,000 2004/05 £76,000 £140,000 £115,000 2005/06 £90,000 £152,503 £121,558 2006/07 £95,000 £169,649 £130,000 *Includes RTB Sales, Second Hand Sales and New Build Sales

In Eaglesham, the required level of borrowing for lower quartile income households would have been more affordable in 2002 at around 3.8 times income (assuming 100% borrowing). In 2006, this had increased to approximately 4.9 times income levels. These figures still present a picture of pressure on the affordability of housing, given that the standard multiples of income used for single income households are 3.5 times income for borrowing, and 2.9 times income borrowing for dual income households.

Levels of Homelessness (including estimates of “hidden homelessness”)

There are no significant levels of homelessness recorded from either of the villages identified for the purposes of this report. Based on waiting list data available at the end of the last financial year, there were no applicants identified as homeless from either of the two areas.

Of those applicants on the waiting list who were recorded as homeless from the waiting list data available, no applicants were seeking either of these areas as their preferred areas for rehousing. This is likely to be a reflection, in part, of the levels of stock and turnover in these areas. Most applicants have chosen the main settlements where they are likely to be housed more quickly and where the bulk of housing stock is concentrated.

Second-Home/ Holiday-Home Ownership and Empty Properties

Settlement Total Homes Households Affected Eaglesham 1364 12 (0.9%)

Uplawmoor 219 5 (2.3%)

* Figures extracted from Council Tax Register 2007 for Landlord Registration Scheme

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM Based on local knowledge there is very little, if any, holiday home ownership in the local area. The majority identified are second homes, or empty homes, mainly transitional between let and sale.

It is worth noting that the Council does not currently use powers available to reduce the discount given on second and holiday homes, for the purposes of securing income for affordable housing. This decision was taken in 2005, following analysis of levels of such properties locally, since any increased income was likely to be minimal. This situation, however, continues to be monitored.

East Renfrewshire Council 27 February 2008

S/:Dev/P&D/RuralHsng/Feb08LM