All affordable housing units which are to be delivered with grant subsidy from the Scottish Government must meet all the Quality Standards contained within guidance note MHDGN 2023/01 :
- as a minimum, be two person, two apartment units (unless otherwise agreed with the relevant Scottish Government area team and local authority)
- comply with all applicable building regulations as required by law (see notes).
- meet, as a minimum, the design criteria indicated as a ‘basic’ requirement as outlined in Housing for Varying Needs (column ‘B’ in ‘Summary of Design Criteria’) – the design criteria indicated as ‘desirable’ (column ‘D’ in ‘Summary of Design Criteria’) should also be included where possible (see notes).
- include ducting to help future-proof access to internet and broadband
- have space for home working or study
- have private or communal outdoor space with room for people to sit outside, and
- be digitally-enabled – when a household gets the keys to their home they must be able to arrange for an internet connection to ‘go live’ without the internet service provider having to provide additional cabling to the premises. These connections should utilise the best available technology and, where it is not possible for a gigabit capable technology to be provided immediately, the physical infrastructure should be installed to support retrospective deployment.
Notes:
- Affordable housing units will be designated general needs, older/ambulant disabled or wheelchair standard. The applicable HfVN design criteria must be used and will depend on what is agreed.
- Automatic fire suppression systems must be provided in all social housing dwellings.
- Heating systems which produce zero direct emissions heating at point of use must be provided in all social housing dwellings. This came into effect from 1 December 2023.
- Electric vehicle charge point for new residential buildings with a parking space must be provided. This came into effect from 5 June 2023 (see footnote 17 of guidance note MHDGN 2023/01).
- As a landlord, social housing provider may have other requirements/preferences for the properties they will manage. We strongly encourage early conversations with social housing providers to establish these.
To address both current and future need, at least 20% of new affordable housing supply will be delivered to meet particular needs, with at least half (that is, 10% of new supply) to full wheelchair standard. This target is an overall target and individual sites may deliver more or less than 20%. Specialist housing delivered to contribute towards this target may include amenity, supported housing and other models as appropriate.
Additionally, some social housing providers preference is for incurtilage or allocated parking to help mitigate the potential for estate management issues. We strongly encourage early conversations with social housing providers to establish their preference.
Contact the officer responsible for affordable housing at affordablehousingteam@angus.gov.uk