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Glossary of Terms
I-M
- Improvement for Sale (IFS)
- The improvement of sub standard housing to encourage and assist low cost
owner occupation particularly in areas where there are few owner occupiers.
- Industrial and Provident Society (I&P Soc.)
- A membership organisation established under the Industrial and Provident
Societies Act. Members pay £1 to join. Management committee members
are volunteers. Most Scottish Housing Associations / RSLs are I&P Societies.
- Investors in People
- An accreditation system for organisations which achieve certain standards
in staff management and training.
- Kintry Housing Partnership
- An Old Scots word for "neighbourhood", this is the title of
a company set up to manage houses in Niddrie/Craigmillar, Edinburgh. Members
include local residents; Link, Castle Rock Edinvar and Dunedin Canmore Housing
Associations and the City of Edinburgh Council.
- Land Register
- New system for registering property ownership in Scotland, which replaces
the previous Register of Sasines.
- Larach Alliance
- Using a Gaelic word for "foundation" Larach comprises six RSLs
(Link, Hillcrest, Castle Rock, Perthshire, Kingdom and West of Scotland)
who work together to improve relationships with contractors and suppliers
to achieve efficiency and explore new methods of construction. www.larach.org.uk
- Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT)
- The process of transferring the ownership of tenanted public sector homes
to another landlord, with the consent of the majority of the tenants. Secure
tenants who transfer to a landlord in this way keep their right to buy
and their rights of succession.
- Life Cycle Costing
- A method of calculating the cost and timing of the repairs to and replacement
of major building components. Once the landlord has determined its long
term strategy for the maintenance and replacement of the various elements
in properties over a thirty or sixty year period, these estimated figures
should form part of the exercise in establishing future rent levels for
the properties.
LIFT (Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers)
New Scottish Government Shared Equity Open Market Scheme which replaces Homestake. Aimed at helping people on low incomes who wish to be home owners but cannot afford to pay the full price for a house. Housing associations fund part of the price of the house, using a LIFT grant, and retain a corresponding equity in the property.
- Lifetime Homes
- A term used to describe homes which meet, or can easily be adapted to
meet, the changing needs of households over time.
- Local Enterprise Company
- One of a network of organisations which cover Scotland and are responsible
for economic, training and employment initiatives. They are controlled
by the quangos, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.
- Local Housing Organisation (LHO)
- A term commonly used to describe a company which is set up by a local
authority to own and/or manage social rented housing. Several LHO's have
been established in Glasgow to take stock from Glasgow Housing Association.
- Local Housing Strategies
- Local authorities make a comprehensive assessment of housing needs and
conditions, and produce strategies to tackle the housing problems in their
area over a five-year period.
- Low Cost Home Ownership (LCHO)
- An all-embracing term for the various categories of ownership offered
by organisations e.g. Improvement for Sale (IFS) or Shared Ownership.
- Major Repairs
- Major repairs are works which have become necessary since the original
development or rehabilitation works were completed, including works required
by subsequent legislative changes. This work includes replacement of, or
repairs to, features of properties which have come to the end of their
economic lives.
- Management and Maintenance Allowances
- These are the figures used in the grant calculation by Communities Scotland
as estimates of RSL's running costs.
- Market Rent
- Rents are set according to what people are prepared to pay.
- Membership
- Every Registered Social Landlord must have a membership policy. Members
are, in effect, the owners of the landlord body and the management committee
and board are elected by and from the membership.
- Mental Welfare Commission
- An independent organisation set up by Parliament to protect the welfare
of people with mental disorder.
- Missives
- This is an everyday expression used in Scotland for an agreement which
has been constituted by an exchange of letters. "Completed missives" are
when the party of whom the offer is addressed has given a written acceptance.
- Mixed Tenure
- A range of types of accommodation in terms of ownership and occupation
- social rented, market rented, shared ownership and outright owner occupation.
- Mortgage to Rent
- A scheme supported by the Scottish Executive to prevent homelessness
through mortgage repayment default. An owner sells their home to an RSL
which then rents it back to them.
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