Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you for that—I might come back on voids a bit later.

I have a final question for now, on local housing emergencies, and then I will bring in Willie Coffey. Minister, in your opening statement, you said that you are taking a regional approach and supporting five local authorities specifically. I asked whether you are monitoring other authorities that might suddenly show up with more severe problems.

We have heard in committee that there is a nuanced approach, and when we went to Argyll and Bute, where we had a wonderful day with the council, we heard that the issue is not just affordable housing but mid-market housing, so the whole system needs to be looked at. I am interested in hearing how the Scottish Government is ensuring that its response to the housing emergency helps all councils with their specific needs and plans, and that good practice is shared among them.

Thank you, that is helpful. I will pick up on two of those things and then bring in Willie Coffey. In relation to empty homes, you talked about lessons learned from Glasgow. In the past, when councils have come to the committee, there has been a reluctance around doing that kind of work and I am also aware of that reluctance from my work as an MSP. Since we called an emergency, however, the situation has changed. Have the lessons from Glasgow and other places been learned? For example, Perth and Kinross Council has been exemplary in its work on empty homes and empty properties. Have you been working with councils on that?

That sounds good. It has been good to set the scene and open up the issues around the housing emergency and how you are approaching it.

I will now bring in Willie Coffey on the theme of homelessness.

I will just add a footnote on other issues, such as transport and place making. We are trying to move away from thinking about housing as housing to thinking about making places. I am not going to let you respond to that, because I need to move on.

I have a few mopping-up questions to ask. One of the things that comes up in my mind when you talk about empty homes is what you are doing about empty flats above commercial properties that do not seem to make it on to the empty homes list. Are you factoring those in? Single people who live in big homes could move into smaller accommodation, and they might be happy to live in a town centre.

Thank you. You might not be able to respond to this, but the idea has come up that, when retrofitting homes and other buildings in Scotland, and for new builds, we could look at locking up carbon, or carbon sequestration, by using timber that has been grown in Scotland. Companies that want to offset their phase 3 emissions could invest in that. The idea that we could get investment for housing while tackling the climate emergency is very interesting. Have you come across that idea and are you doing anything on it?

One of you mentioned the three standing forums—for rural and islands, urban, and “systemic impact”, or something like that.

Thank you, Mark. I now bring in Willie Coffey.

When we went to visit Argyll and Bute Council and had discussions with it, we heard about the wider issues beyond building supply.

In your opening statement, you mentioned Gypsy Traveller sites. We heard last week that the regulator could be stronger on Gypsy Traveller sites and you said in your opening statement that you are now of the view that the Scottish Government should review the standards for Gypsy Traveller sites. I am interested to hear a bit more about what you think needs to happen and what benefits that might bring, as briefly as possible.

Good morning, and welcome to the 36th meeting in 2024 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. Mark Griffin is joining us online, and we have received apologies from Meghan Gallacher.

I welcome Evelyn Tweed MSP and Paul Sweeney MSP, both of whom are joining us for our evidence session with the Scottish Housing Regulator.

I remind all members and witnesses to ensure that their devices are on silent.

The first item on our agenda is a decision on taking items 3 to 7 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. It was helpful of you to outline the three key areas that you are focused on, which members will certainly want to ask you about.

You will be aware that, this time round, we have taken a deeper-dive approach, not only with your work and your annual report, but with the work of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. That approach has been welcomed. There is nothing like getting feedback and other perspectives to understand situations. We have a number of questions based on what we have heard.

Previous witnesses told the committee about their concerns about the Scottish Housing Regulator being

“heavy handed or insufficiently justified”

in some of its decisions. We also heard that there might be a perception of fear of the regulator, especially among smaller RSLs. Do you recognise those concerns? How can you ensure that the SHR is perceived to be an open organisation that can be trusted by everyone?