Scottish housing providers have been given 11 years to meet the country's new decent homes standard.
Following the lead set by the government in England and Wales, the Scottish Executive announced the Scottish housing quality standard on Wednesday.

Unlike England, the standard will apply to both public and private housing, with the deadline for compliance set at 2015 – five years later than in England.

Scotland's communities minister, Margaret Curran, said: "The recent Scottish House Condition Survey estimates about 70% of Scotland's social housing falls beneath the new standard, although many houses miss it only marginally. We have asked landlords to submit their plans for meeting the standard by April 2005.

"I believe that an achievable date for meeting it should be 10 years from the submission of those plans."

Along with 456,000 social rented homes that currently fail the standard, 1.7 million private homes – 70% of Scotland's total – are also thought to be below the mark.

The standard stipulates that homes must be "free from serious disrepair such as major roof, dampness or structural problems" and must be "energy efficient".

Source

Housing Today