Glimmer of hope on housing cash

COUNCILLORS in Shetland are “quietly” confident they can break the deadlock on government funding for affordable housing in the isles.

A delegation returned from a meeting with housing minister Alex Neil on Tuesday saying they believed Shetland could win a share of this year’s £25 million funding package for the whole of Scotland.

This follows two unsuccessful bids for cash for housing, initially for £250,000 to be spent in Brae and then a £4.3 million towards a £20 million house building programme in Lerwick and elsewhere in the isles.

Shetland Islands Council housing spokesman Allison Duncan, who described last year’s failure to gain finding as a “kick in the teeth for Shetland”, said he thought Tuesday’s meeting had made “some headway”.

Mr Duncan travelled to Edinburgh with SIC services committee vice chairwoman Betty Fullerton, finance chief Graham Jonston and housing boss Chris Medley.

The meeting also covered the threat to the future of Shetland’s housing support grant, used to on the huge housing debt incurred during the oil boom.

The council has until September this year to make the case for the grant to continue by presenting their plan to reduce the housing debt of around £50 million.

After Tuesday’s meeting Mr Duncan said that the minister had accepted an invitation to visit Shetland in autumn of this year.

He added that he was hopeful that Shetland would get some of the housing cash it had applied for to help with its ambitious and much needed £20 million council house building programme.

He said the Scottish government had received 22 bids totalling £55 million competing for the £25 million pot.

“I am quietly optimistic. We have made our case very strongly, but the meeting was amicable. I think we have made headway.

“The housing minister gave us the assurance that we will be hearing from him in two to three weeks,” Mr Duncan said.

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