Housing and homeless charity Shelter Scotland has welcomed today’s announcement that the Highland Council's application to extend pressured area status has been approved by the Scottish Government.

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “We welcome this common-sense decision that will help to protect social housing in the Highlands. Pressured area status is one of the few tools available to local authorities like Highland to limit the sale of homes.

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"While there is no doubt that Right to Buy has been popular, this has resulted in the loss of over 5,000 homes in the Highlands over the past ten years. Across Scotland there are over 160,000 households stuck on waiting lists with demand continuing to outstrip supply."

He added: "The Scottish Government has already made amendments to Right to Buy through the current Housing Bill, but we want to see these changes go further as Right to Buy is outdated and needs to be simpler, more flexible and in-keeping with 21st Century housing policy."

(GK/BMcC)