Housing: policy context

National policy context

 Scotland's housing strategy is set out in

Local policy context

Each local authority is responsible for its own housing stock. Local housing policies and strategies play a critical role in helping to shape a Scotland with houses that are conducive to health and wellbeing.  One of Public Health Scotland’s predecessor, NHS Health Scotland, produced a Housing Strategies Briefing Paper which contains detailed information on local housing policies and the role these can play in helping to tackle Scotland’s health crises. 

The Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) is an evidence based assessment undertaken by local authorities to estimate the number of homes required to meet current and future housing needs. Scottish Government provide a guide to developing an HNDA, which lists data sources in ‘Section 3 Evidence & Analysis’. The HNDA is used to plan for local housing management and development and for the provision of housing related services over a 5 year period. Local authorities form Housing Market Partnerships to undertake the HNDA, and there are opportunities for Public Health professionals to form part of these partnerships.

The HNDA acts as an evidence base on which the Housing Supply Target is based. The Housing Supply Target describes the additional housing that can actually be delivered, and it feeds into the Local Housing Strategy (LHS) which sets out a local authority’s desired outcomes over a 5 year period along with detailed actions to achieve these outcomes. All housing tenures and housing related services (i.e. homelessness, housing support, & fuel poverty) are represented in the Local Housing Strategy.