Housing

There is a housing crisis. There are houses but those needing access to residential properties, to homes, face significant barriers. How are people expected to invest their time and efforts in the community without the security of their own home?

I was told today that a current project to build a small two bedroom house was costing about £300,000. That is not including the cost of the plot. I heard recently of a local couple that had their bid rejected for a cash buyer at the same price. We all see the constant pleas for rental accommodation online, especially from health professionals that have recently secured a role. What about all of the affordable housing that is being build?

According to official definitions, there are three types of rental housing – social, affordable, and market. This does not include the hundreds of people living in static caravans and other types of temporary accommodations across Highland. I hate to think what the real number of people is in such accommodation on Skye and Raasay.

Previous efforts over the decades have come in to assist, and some are still in place. From the creation of council housing, croft house grants, and now affordable housing projects, there are houses in our communities. The current affordable housing projects are alleviating the worst of the crisis in some areas. But what is affordable housing?

Affordable housing is a specific term. When referred to by the Government, it refers to properties priced at about 20% under the market rent of an area. In research from 2023, the average rent for a 2-bed house in Highland is about £660. So 20% lower than that is £528. Using the Government guidance of 25% of your income being affordable for your rent, then you would need to earn £2,112 to live there. That is over £25,000 a year. But then there is the cost of living crisis, child care, travel, living in a rural area.

The housing crisis is not new. There was a consultation completed in 1996 where the Highland Council looked into each area and got detailed views from communities. For Raasay, it was stated that 50 houses would be needed in the next 15 years. 4 houses were being built through Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association, they then built 3 more. A partnership project with Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association and Raasay Development Trust (with significant help from the Communities Housing Trust) a 5 house project was completed in 2024. LSHA are about to complete an additional 6 properties in the near future.

These 11 houses only became possible because the North Raasay Sheep Stock Club offered housing plots on a piece of ground that was of minimal grazing value. The NRSSC knew of the housing issues on the island and that this piece of ground was within the planning area for Raasay. The number of plots required a number of affordable houses to be built and so the project progressed. This project needed the condition in legislation to kick start the housing project.

The time and effort of the community was a significant part in the building of the 11 houses. These houses that are nowhere near the number needed by the resident population. All across Skye and Raasay, businesses are having to become landlords to house their staff. Tied accommodation is not the answer. Working here should mean you can live in your own home with security of tenure. You should be able to live in accommodation that is not living with parents, living in shared accommodation, living in static caravans, living in unsecured tenancies. A way must be found to ensure this crisis is not left for the next generation to deal with. I will fight to find a way to support those of us that do not have a secure home.

More housing is needed but how do we get access to the houses that have already been built? It is a question with far-reaching implications, but it needs to be addressed urgently. We all hear the reasons that nothing is being done. There are only so many things a local authority can do. Change takes time. More needs to be done.

We need to have more councillors in The Highland Council that will fight for those that need a stronger voice. We need changes to planning. We need regulation. We need people fighting for us that are not the ones that benefit from the status quo. We need confidence that something is being done so that the next generation does not have the same problems. We need confidence that change is made for us now.