Senior housing in Scotland: a development and investment opportunity?

Funding Information: Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, local authorities are required to prepare and submit a Local Housing Strategy (LHS) which is supported by an assessment of housing need and demand and subject to consultation and engagement with communities. The government had set a target of 50,000 affordable homes to be built by March 2021. This need is now unlikely to be met as a consequence of COVID-19. Funding for these homes comes from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. Local authorities use their 3-years Resource Planning Assumption (RPA) from the Scottish Government to prepare Strategic Housing Investment plans (SHIPs) for their areas. These plans are the key documents for identifying strategic housing projects to assist the achievement of the 50,000 homes target. Currently, it does not appear that there is any policy obligation to build a set amount of senior homes per annum. It is up to local authorities to define need based on the demographics of their area. Acknowledgements: The authors express their thanks to the Elderly Accommodation Counsel for their assistance throughout this project and to Caroline Laurenson for her help on technology advancements. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.