Affordable Homes grants awarded to Edinburgh Living: FOI release

Information requested

Information the Scottish Government has in relation to Affordable Homes grants awarded to Edinburgh Living Mid-Market Rent LLP (Edinburgh Living), a limited liability partnership incorporated in Scotland with registered address Waverley Court, 4, East Market Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH8 8BG. You requested that the information is limited to grants awarded to Edinburgh Living under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme - specifically as part of the Greendykes Phase G phase of the Craigmillar regeneration project. The request relates to such awards as required Scottish Government sign-off on account of being in excess of grants made under Transfer of Management of Development Funding (TMDF) applications.

The following information was requested:

1. applicable Scottish Government criteria for grant funding, then in force.
2. copies of:

(i) each grant application;
(ii) supporting documents for each application including equalities impact assessments / statements and, separately, documents referencing local authorities' wellbeing power contained in s. 20 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 1973 and
(iii) the outcome of each application, including the level of award any conditions that may be attached to it.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

In relation to the requested information in terms of copies of grant applications; supporting documents and the outcome of each application, with respect to Greendykes Phase G, including the level of grant award and associated conditions, please find attached the following documents:

A Grant Application form which comes in the form of three attachments (all from September 2017) which are:

• Midmarket Rent Tender Application Form – Part 1;
• List of Potential Pipeline Sites – Part 2; and
• List of Rental Assumptions – Part 3.

Also attached is the Grant Award offer with associated conditions dated 8 March 2018 and which specifically notes Greendykes Phase G, alongside other developments, on Page 10. You will see that the grant offer is to the City of Edinburgh Council in connection with securing units for mid-market rent by EHMR 2017 LLP (also known as Edinburgh Living).

We understand that the City of Edinburgh Council will hold committee reports which explain the background to the formation of Edinburgh Living which, whilst we do not hold, you may wish to refer to on the Council’s website. Finally, it is worth noting that Edinburgh Living was initially referred to as Edinburgh Homes.

Some of the information you have requested is already available. In relation to requested information on applicable Scottish Government criteria for grant funding, then in force, please refer to MHDGN 2018/01 which is available from the Process and Procedures section of our website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The sections which have been redacted on the attached documents contain the name of individuals.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because the officials were involved in the housing development. In recognition of this the job titles, where available, have not been redacted to indicate the level of staff involved. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in upholding data protection principles and individuals names have been redacted.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500455142 - Information Released - Annex

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