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During the COVID-19 pandemic we prioritised work on the Short-term lets Licensing Order and Amendment Regulations for short-term let control areas. This enabled the statutory instruments for these to be considered by the Scottish Parliament in this session and meant the review of the tax treatment of short-term lets was deferred.

We intend to recommence the tax treatment review in the coming months to ensure that short-term lets make an appropriate contribution to the communities they operate in.

We require projects funded as part of our fuel poverty schemes including Local Authority Area Based Schemes, Warmer Homes Scotland and the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund to comply with all relevant building regulations, retrofit standards and guarantee requirements. The PAS 2035 standard has applied since July 2021 and retrofit installers must now work to this specification.

PAS 2035 standardises the fabric first approach to retrofit and installation of measures by installers, not the quality or effectiveness of the energy efficiency product measures themselves. As for audits and inspections then these are carried out by TrustMark which is the approval scheme for PAS 2035 and involves 10% desktop audits and 10% onsite audits. The work completed in a property is lodged into the TrustMark Data Warehouse where records of the improvement works are held identifying all aspects of the design and installation with all supporting warranties required for the work. In the event that the standards have not been met then TrustMark working with the Scheme Providers will take the necessary steps to address this through their Operating Framework and deliver remediation and redress where required.. This is also underpinned by access to the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman where disputes need to be escalated.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05774 on 27 January 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

This information is not collected in the High Rise Inventory.

The revised Affordable Housing Investment Benchmarks were introduced on 29 October 2021.

Our building by building approach aims to offer reassurance and our priority is always to secure the safety of people in their own homes. Inspections are underway and we expect the first completed reports soon.

We expect that the majority of buildings will be shown to be safe, but where issues are found, then we will seek the most appropriate solutions to remediation. We urge other parties, such as developers, to continue to play their part where construction is found to be unsafe.

We work with stakeholders regularly including with our Cladding Stakeholder Group to ensure all appropriate solutions are considered for homeowners and residents in affected buildings.

The Single Building Assessment programme in Scotland will not have a restriction to 18m and above. The UK Government's recent announcement for England does focus solely on buildings over 18m. Whilst we welcome the announcement from the UK Government about ensuring that the polluter pays, a collective approach is needed to secure reparations from developers and the wider construction industry.

Minutes of the third meeting of the Fire Safety Review Panel will be ratified at the fourth review panel meeting on 24 January 2022 and published shortly thereafter.

The next fire safety review panel meeting on 24 January 2022 will be the final panel meeting, subject to any new evidence emerging from the Grenfell Inquiry. The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 are expected to be laid in the Scottish Parliament by the end of March with supporting guidance published in the Spring. The new regulations and guidance are planned to come into force on 1 October 2022.

An independent consultation analysis by Optimal Economics was published on 17 January 2022 which can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/analysis-responses-building-standards-fire-safety-consultation-external-wall-systems/

The Open Market Shared Equity scheme is targeted at first time buyers on low to moderate incomes regardless of the source of their income. This includes those in employment and in receipt of benefits. In 2020-21, the average gross household income of beneficiaries was £27,000 and 43% of households had at least one child.