Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Acquisitions and Disposals - Update 2026
Renfrewshire Council · 19 May 2026
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 19 May 2026 and its agenda
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 19 May 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Environment, Housing and Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Acquisitions and Disposals - Update 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This Policy Board has previously approved a number of reports setting out policies in relation to both the disposal and acquisition of properties held on the Housing Revenue Account. 1.2 This is the second annual report which provides an update on progress on acquisition and disposal of properties held under the Housing Revenue Account in the financial year 2025/26. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board: 2.1 Note the progress made to date in the acquisition and disposal of properties held under the Housing Revenue Account. 2.2 Note that further updates on this topic will be provided on an annual basis. ___________________________________________________________________
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PUBLIC 3. Background 3.1 The Housing and Community Safety Policy Board on 13 May 2014 approved the ‘Single Council Dwellings in Larger Common Blocks’ policy. An amended policy was approved by this Policy Board on 16 August 2022. The purpose of this policy is to identify blocks where the Council has a minority ownership interest and accordingly will encounter greater difficulties when seeking to bring forward improvement works for the benefit of its tenants due to a failure of a majority of private owners to consent to the works. 3.2 A number of properties that have become naturally vacant within blocks where the Council has a minority interest have been marketed for sale on the open market. Each last in the block property that becomes naturally vacant has been reviewed by a working group of officers who then make recommendations to either invest, retain and relet or sell each property. The proceeds of these disposals are then reinvested, together with available Scottish Government grant finance, in the acquisition of additional residential properties within Renfrewshire that it is considered would meet a particular demand need or consolidate the Council’s ownership within mixed tenure blocks. 3.3 The purpose of this report is to provide a further annual update on the progress made on these disposals in line with the ‘Single Council Dwellings in Larger Common Blocks’ policy and acquisitions made in parallel as part of the Council’s Acquisition Policy. 3.4 In this financial year, 13 properties have been sold in accordance with the disposal policy between 1st April 2025 and 31st March 2026. A breakdown of disposals by locality is contained in Table 1 below. Table 1 - Disposals by Local Neighbourhood Area Neighbourhood No. Properties Property Type/Size Paisley North 2 1 x 1 bed flat and 1 x 2 bed flat Paisley South 6 3 x 1 bed flats and 3 x 2 bed flats Renfrew and Gallowhill 4 1 x 1 bed flat and 3 x 2 bed flats Johnstone and villages 1 1 x 2 bed flat Total 13 3.5 In this financial year, 20 properties have been acquired in accordance with the acquisition policy as at 31st March 2026. Four of these were acquired with the tenant in situ, following an update to the acquisition scheme as approved by this board in May 2025. All 20 acquisitions have been supported by grant finance from the Scottish Government and receipts from the proceeds of last in the block sales. A breakdown of these acquisitions by locality is contained in Table 2 below.
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PUBLIC Table 2 - Acquisitions by Local Neighbourhood Area Neighbourhood No. Properties Property Type/Size Paisley North 8 3 x 1 bed flats, 4 x 2 bed flats, 1 x 2 Maisonette flat. Paisley South 4 1 x 1 bed flats, 1 x 2 bed flat, and 2 x 2 bed houses. Renfrew and Gallowhill 1 1 x 1 bed flats Johnstone and villages 7 1 x 1 bed bungalow, 3 x 1 bed flats, and 3 x 2 bed flats. Total 20 3.6 All potential buy backs are assessed prior to being approved for acquisition as to their suitability and any works required to bring them up to the relevant lettable standards. Particular attention has been paid this year to acquisitions within regeneration areas where this would increase the Councils majority position or give full ownership to allow investment works to be progressed. 3.7 In addition to the acquisitions set out above, the regeneration team have further agreed 10 more acquisitions at this time, including 4 in Renfrew, 1 in Paisley and 5 in Johnstone but given that these are not scheduled to settle until into the next financial year, they will feature in next years’ annual report. 3.8 All sold properties are approved in advance for disposal by an officer working group. Properties identified for sale tend to be in blocks where the Council have been unable to reach owner agreement to proceed with larger investment programmes, where the Council have a lack of demand for the type, size or location of property or where the cost to deliver required investment does not demonstrate value for money for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). 3.9 Since the implementation of both policies, each year to date, has delivered a net increase in the number of lettable properties within the Councils stock. This has a positive impact in terms of addressing need from our housing waiting list, reducing homelessness (new tenant in situ process) and the increased delivery of repairs/maintenance and larger investment programmes. 3.10 Further updates will be provided to the Policy Board annually on the progress of disposal of ‘last in the block’ properties and parallel acquisitions. ___________________________________________________________________
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PUBLIC Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Acquisitions are funded through a mix of disposal receipts and Scottish Government grant support. Each potential purchase — whether vacant or with a tenant in situ — must demonstrate a clear fit with the Council’s Acquisition Strategy and meet all relevant Scottish Government grant criteria, ensuring decisions remain value for money and aligned to strategic priorities. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – • Our Renfrewshire is well – Increasing Council ownership in mixed tenure blocks will increase the likelihood of energy efficiency measures being delivered which will bring about health benefits and energy savings to an increased number of tenants. • Building strong, safe and resilient communities – The acquisition and Disposal strategy allows for effective management and future maintenance of Council properties where we are the full or majority owner. 4. Legal – Conveyancing required in relation to acquisition of private housing and disposal of Last in the block properties. 5. Property/Assets – the implementation of both policies as outlined in this report has to date led to a net increase in available lettable properties. 6. Information Technology – None. 7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required, following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – Estate Agency services have been procured through a negotiated tender while a framework of providers is being developed. 10. Risk – There is a risk that some areas may experience a higher number of disposals to the number of acquisitions achievable on the open market in any given year. This will be monitored annually to ensure no adverse impact on an overall neighbourhood’s stock basis in the longer term. 11. Privacy Impact – None
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PUBLIC 12. Climate Risk - Investment in Council assets improves energy efficiency, reducing the Council’s carbon footprint and helping it towards the Net Zero by 2030 target. 13. Children’s Rights - None 14. Cosla Policy Position – None _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers (a) Report to Housing and Community Safety Policy Board, 13 May 2014, ‘Single Council Dwellings in Larger Common Blocks’ (b) Report to Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board, 20 August 2019, ‘Acquisition of Private Housing’ (c) Report to Communities and Housing Policy Board, 16 August 2022, ‘Last-in- the-block Sale and Acquisition Policy’ (d) Report to Communities and Housing Policy Board, 13 May 2025, ‘Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Acquisitions and Disposals – 2025’ The foregoing background papers will be retained within Housing Services for inspection by the public for the prescribed period of four years from the date of the meeting. The contact officer within the service is Jennifer Murdoch, Housing Regeneration Manager, 07811 053038, jennifer.murdoch@renfrewshire.gov.uk ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Jennifer Murdoch, Housing Regeneration Manager Email: jennifer.murdoch@renfrewshire.gov.uk