By Lucy Ashton
MSP Jackie Baillie has called on council bosses to declare a housing emergency after it was revealed that more than 13,000 households in West Dunbartonshire have some form of housing need.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP has long supported the move, as figures show more than 6,000 people are already on the waiting list for socially-rented homes in the area.
Housing bosses have also had to resort to placing homeless residents in temporary B&B accommodation – a move ruled out in 2019 – such is the current pressure on housing stock.
But new figures from pressure group Homes for Scotland have now revealed that 31 per cent of the area’s households face some form of housing pressure, including:
- at least 7,000 concealed households * A concealed household is one where an adult member of the occupying family lives at home with a child of their own
- 1,000 households living in overcrowded accommodation
- 3,000 households living in unfit properties
- 3,000 households living in homes they struggle to afford
- 2,000 households living in properties requiring specialised housing adaptation or support.
The organisation, which represents more than 200 bodies, including housebuilders, wants to see more new homes created to help alleviate the crisis.
It commissioned the new research in response to Local Development Planning Guidance published last May, by the Scottish Government.
The SNP Holyrood administration has been accused of fuelling the flames of the social housing crisis after making a spectacular U-turn on spending commitments.
New figures reveal approvals for new-build affordable homes and starts on projects have hit a ten-year low.
A damning new report published last month revealed that in 2023 the number of affordable housing supply approvals fell to its lowest since 2012, while the number of starts on affordable housing projects hit the lowest point since 2013.
Housing completions also sat at their lowest level since 2021.
In West Dunbartonshire, no new-build affordable homes have been completed since the final quarter of 2021 – when 45 properties were finished.
Data shows a total of 264 new affordable homes were completed in the area in 2021.
A total of 383 affordable new-build homes have been completed since 2015 in West Dunbartonshire, according to the Scottish Government’s own data.
Work on just 88 new-build local authority homes began in 2023, all in the final quarter.
Calls for the Scottish Government to declare a nationwide housing emergency as waiting lists soar, have, so far, fallen on deaf ears.
The SNP-led Holyrood administration pledged to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 but has now admitted this commitment is “at risk”.
Funding for the Affordable Housing Supply programme, designed to help meet the affordable homes target, faces being cut by £200 million, as a result of SNP budget plans.
Three Scottish local authorities have already declared a housing emergency, including Argyll & Bute and Glasgow, with others fearing they may follow.
Recent Scottish Government announcements have scaled back funding for projects, amidst warnings of a 43 per cent cut in real-terms funding for planning departments and cuts to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, which has been allocated £556m for the year 2024/25, down from £752m in 2023/24.
The SNP Government has also stalled on financing recent projects in West Dunbartonshire and cut back on a plan for delivery of new homes in Bellsmyre by Caledonia Housing Association.
Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie, pictured left, said: “We have known for some time that Scotland is facing a catastrophic social housing shortage.
“Action is needed urgently to avert a meltdown in the sector as demand for affordable homes soars.
“Rather than take that action the SNP, who made a commitment to tackle Scotland’s affordable homes crisis, has gone back on its word and cut funding to build new housing.
“It is high time that recognition is given to the crisis facing social landlords in West Dunbartonshire, which is of the Scottish Government’s making.
“The time is right to declare the extent of the emergency facing the socially-rented housing sector in the area.”