Tha feum air siostam ùr son taighean anns na sgìrean iomallach, le Murray MacLeòid

“Mura faigh sinn taighean ùra ann an cabhag, tha sinn a’ dol a dhol fodha mar choimhearsnachd.”

[English-language version below]

‘S e faclan gu math cruaidh a bha aig Comhairle Coimhearsnachd Chinn a Deas na Hearadh, ach fairichidh mòran sgìrean dùthchail air feadh Alba truas riutha, ‘s iad fhèin a’ fulang le crìonadh sluaigh. Agus chan e nach eil teaghlaichean òga airson fuireach ann, ach g’ eil prìsean thaighean ro àrd dhaibh.

‘S e eisimpleir glè mhath a tha ann an ceann a deas na Hearadh agus baile an t-Òib. Ma tha thu a’ coimhead air gluasad gu tuath, cha tig thu fada ceàrr ann an seo: goireasan gu leòr, sàbhailte, socair, bun-sgoil mhath agus tràighean eireachdail dìreach ri do thaobh.

Ach, tha sin a-nis air fàs na dhuilgheadas cho mòr ‘s a tha e na bhuannachd. Airson còrr air fichead bliadhna a-nis tha prìsean thaighean is fearainn air a dhol às an ciall agus nas miosa buileach bho thàinig a’ ghlasaidh, agus barrachd a-nis airson gluasad chun na dùthcha agus cothrom a ghabhail air àrainneachd fosgailte.

Tha fiù ‘s seann taighean-croite nach gabhadh a reic o chionn greis, a-nis a' falbh airson £200,000 is £300,000. Ma tha thu airson saor-làithean a ghabhail ann, cha mhòr nach biodh thu na b’ fheàrr dèanamh air an Cote d’Azur.

Abair g’ eil sin math ma tha thu airson do phocaidean a lìonadh agus ann an suidheachadh brath a ghabhail air a sin, ach chan eil e idir cho math dha teaghlaichean òga a tha a’ lorg dhachaighean nan sgìre fhèin – rud a tha cho cudromach son coimhearsnachdan a chumail fallainn is maireanach.

Tha a’ mhargaidh ro chumhachdach airson a mùchadh – cha ghabh a’ bhiast sin a’ stòladh – agus le sin, feumaidh an fhreagairt a bhith ann an àiteigin eile, ann an taighean-sòisealta de dhòigh a choireigin.

Tha Comhairle Coimhearsnachd Chinn a Deas na Hearadh air dragh a thogail mu suidheachadh an taigheadais.

Anns na h-eileanan, tha taighean poblach airson màl (na seann taighean comhairle a bha ann uaireigin) fo ùghdarras Buidheann Taigheadais Innse Gall agus tha iadsan air mòran thaighean ùra a thogail bho chaidh an stèidheachadh 20 bliadhna air ais.

Agus ‘s ann am measg seo a thàinig briathran làidir Chomhairle Choimhearsnachd Chinn a Deas na Hearadh.

Chaidh làrach anns an t-Òb a chomharrachadh airson 12 taigh ùr bho chionn greis, ach thathar a-nis ag ràdh nach urrainnear ach sia a thogail ri linn mar a tha cosgaisean air a dhol an àirde le ìre na h-atmhorachd is eile.

Agus chan e coire HHP gu tur a tha ann nas motha. Tha iad fhèin air an cuingleachadh gu mòr le foirmle a tha follaiseach a chaidh a dhealbhadh airson nam bailtean mòra, le dùil gum biodh grunn thaighean gan togail air an aon làrach – rud nach eil idir iomchaidh dha leithid na h-eileanan agus sgìrean iomallach eile.

Cha bu chòir dha a bhith do-dhèanta dha na h-ùghdarrasan a thighinn an àirde le freagairt, an dàrna cuid beagan a bharrachd de shùbailteachd a thoirt dha leithid HHP agus buidhnean sòisealta, no siostam eile a chruthachadh airson na duilgheadasan anns na sgìrean iomallach a rèiteachadh.

Ach, chan eil càil dhen seo ùr agus chan eil an iomadach iarrtas bho leithid Comhairle Coimhearsnachd Chinn a Deas na Hearadh – agus gu leòr eile – air èisteachd sam bith fhaighinn am measg iadsan is urrainn ruideigin a dhèanamh mu dheidhinn. ‘S beag an t-iongnadh g’ eil iad air an sàrachadh.

English-language version:

“We need more houses soon or we will sink as a community.”

As statements go it was somewhat of the more dramatic kind, but the South Harris Community Council will find sympathy in many rural corners of Scotland which are experiencing a similar crisis of demographics – not because young families don’t want to stay, but because they can’t afford the house prices.

Certainly, South Harris, and its main settlement of Leverburgh, is a case in point. If you were looking for a rural retreat, you wouldn’t go far wrong here: decent amenities, next to no crime, a good primary school, and beaches consistently voted some of the best in Europe a short drive away.

But all that’s now proving to be as much of a hindrance as it is a blessing. For over 20 years now, house and property prices on Harris have been on a one-way ticket to the stratosphere, which has only been fuelled by lockdown and a rise in demand for living in open spaces.

Old draughty croft houses, which not so long ago would scarcely have registered any interest, are being sold for £200,000 to £300,000. Fancy a week’s self-catering there for a holiday? £2k per head just for rent. You’d be as well heading for the Cote d’Azur.

In one sense, it’s great if you are in a position to cash in, but not so great if you’re a young family looking for a start on the property ladder and want to remain in your home community, the lifeblood of any locality. There seems little prospect of artificial interference in a free market, so the solution has to lie elsewhere, in some form of social housing.

In the Western Isles, the rented public sector (formerly the council housing stock) is in the hands of the Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP) and they have embarked on an extensive building programme in recent years. And it’s in this context that the South Harris Community Council issued their doomsday warning, their sense of frustration so evident.

In discussion with the local community, a suitable site in Leverburgh, that would encompass 12 new properties, had been identified with HHP some time ago. However, it has now become clear that only six houses will be progressed due to issues over costs and inflation.

But this is not really an issue for HHP. In a sense, their hands are tied to a funding formula that stipulates a maximum unit cost which is clearly based on a large number of properties being developed on the same site, more in tune with what you see in an urban context. In other words, completely unsuitable for rural areas.

It really shouldn’t be beyond the scope of the authorities to come up with a solution. Either give housing associations like HHP the flexibility and autonomy to respond to the unique needs of their own areas, or create a different vehicle that will actually deal with the situation.

The problem is that none of this is any way new and the desperate calls from the likes of the South Harris Community Council have long been ignored and fallen on deaf ears. It’s little wonder they seem to have reached boiling point.