The Effectiveness of Rural Housing Burdens (RHB)
Rural Housing Burdens (RHBs) place a requirement on the title deeds of a property that when it is sold the discounted value of the land on which the house is built shall pass not to the home owner but be retained by the 'designated rural housing body' (typically a housing trust or a Registered Social Landlord) as a discount in the price of all subsequent sales of the property. The RHB mechanism locks in this discount for community benefit rather than the personal benefit of any subsequent owner. RHBs were created by the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act (2003).
Led by Di Alexander, we carried out research in 2011 to examine how effective the RHB mechanism has been:
- At overcoming the affordable land supply and re-sale issues it seeks to address.
- In providing rural housing policy makers and providers with new but practical ways of increasing the supply of affordable housing in differing rural housing market areas and conditions.
- By examining its comparative effectiveness with other mechanisms designed to address the same issues in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Our research has found that while RHBs have been beneficial in the areas of Scotland where they have been used, the approach is not yet fulfilling its full potential.
We have published a series of recommendations to the Scottish Government and local authorities to help support and encourage an increase in the use of RHBs:
Di Alexander will take on the role of Carnegie Associate during 2012, and work on behalf of the Carnegie UK Trust to improve the understanding of rural housing burdens and increase their uptake.