Officials from The Highland Council and the Scottish Government are to work together to identify ways of easing homelessness and an acute shortage of social rented housing in the Highlands.

This agreement emerged from a meeting between a Council delegation and Alex Neil, Scottish Minister for Housing and Communities, at Inverness.

The Council sought the meeting to highlight the need for greater investment to meet growing housing needs.

Mr Neil was advised that the Council has prioritised housing investment and has a successful track record of finding innovative solutions to maximise housing supply particularly through the Landbank Fund and the Highland Housing Alliance.

The main issue continued to be the growing gap between the level of funding available and the level of housing need.

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The projected need for new affordable housing over the next 12 years averages at 784 per year.

In attempting to meet this need, it was agreed that the Scottish Government and the Council should work together, along with financial institutions, to explore alternative models of delivery.

Councillor Michael Foxley, Leader of the Council’s Administration, said: "We welcomed the opportunity to highlight the challenges facing us in meeting the housing needs of our community and to explore how the Scottish Government can help us attract greater investment. The meeting was very positive and constructive and we will be pursuing a number of ideas suggested by the Minister."

Councillor Margaret Davidson, Chairman of the Council's Housing and Social Work Committee, said the Council has a higher than average investment requirement to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, associated with relatively low energy efficiency ratings for its housing stock due to the rural nature of much of the stock and lack of mains gas supply in many areas.

She said: "High housing debt makes it difficult for the Council to fund the required investment programme to its own stock. It also makes it difficult for the Council to maximise investment in new build council housing. We have had discussion with the UK Treasury on the issue of debt relief, and continue to explore this option."

The Council has the second highest rents in Scotland at £56.66 per week and has one of the highest levels of average housing debt per house at £10,264.

(GK/JM)