Purchase of Section 106 Affordable Housing by Sage Housing

This request has been withdrawn by the person who made it. There may be an explanation in the correspondence below.

Dear South Ayrshire Council,

I write to you in order to request the information set out below. My request is pursuant to the FOIA.

The information requested relates to the purchase of Section 106 affordable housing units in the local authority area by the company Sage Housing over the last three years.

The information I seek is:

1) the number of applications made by Sage Housing to acquire Section 106 affordable housing units in each calendar year of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

2) the planning reference number that each application applies to

3) For each development in which Sage Housing has acquired Section 106 units between 01/01/2017 and 24/01/2020:

i) The name of the development
ii) The planning reference number
iii) The address of the development
iv) The postcode(s) of the development
v) The number of affordable units in the development
vi) The housing tenure mix (e.g social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership)
vii) The decision date (date/month/year)
viii) The date until when the units are contracted with Sage Housing to stay affordable
(date/month/year)
ix) The price paid by Sage Housing to acquire the development (if known)
x) For rental units, if the council has nomination rights to the first lets, what percentage of units will the council have nomination rights for on subsequent lets?
xi) List any requests made by Sage Housing to alter or amend the original Section 106 agreement and whether the council agreed to these.
xii) Whether the development is a completed or a forthcoming (“starts on site”) development

4) For each development please attach the viability assessment

5) For each unit acquired by Sage Housing:
i) The name of the unit’s development
ii) The unit’s address
iii) The price paid by Sage Housing to acquire the unit (if known)
iv) The Land Registry title number

Please provide the information in an excel or CSV format, with the questions and sub-questions as column headings.

If you need clarification please contact me at this email address. Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in any way before the 20th working day.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Cat McShane

FOI,, South Ayrshire Council

Good Afternoon

As your request relates directly to environmental information as per regulation 2 (1) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, it is appropriate to process this request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. This means that we are exempting your request under section 39 (2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

In applying this exemption, I am required to consider the public interest test. The public interest test relates to information that is of serious concern and benefit to the public. This test must also be applied under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 to every exception under these regulations and therefore the public interest will be served in dealing with this request under the more appropriate and rigorous Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

We are obliged under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 to provide any recorded information, we hold, (subject to exceptions) as quickly as possible and in all cases, within 20 working days.

For more information on the Regulations and to use the response calculator, please visit http://www.itspublicknowledge.info

Kind regards

FOI Team | Chief Executive’s Office | [email address] | 01292 612223 | County Buildings, Wellington Square, Ayr KA7 1DR | www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk

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FOI,, South Ayrshire Council

Dear Mr Davies

Thank you for your information enquiry of the above reference number. Due to the nature of your request, it has been dealt with under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

I can confirm there have been no applications made by Sage, as either applicant or agent, and this email therefore constitutes a nil return.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request you can ask for a review. A request for a review must be submitted within 40 working days and should be put in writing to Deborah McVey, Information Governance Team Leader, South Ayrshire Council, County Buildings, Wellington Square, Ayr KA7 1DR, Tel: 01292 612223, Email: [South Ayrshire Council request email]. If you remain dissatisfied after a review, you have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. This must be submitted within 6 months after the review and should be put in writing to the Scottish Information Commissioner at Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS, Tel: 01334 464610 Email: [email address] or use the online portal http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR.... Further information on your right to ask for a review and to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner is given in the enclosed Information Sheet.

Yours sincerely

Susan Mitchell | Support Officer (Complaints & Information) | [South Ayrshire Council request email] | | 01292 612223 | County Buildings | Wellington Square | AYR | KA7 1DR | www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk |

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