12th Scottish council declares a housing emergency

12th Scottish council declares a housing emergency

0:01 AM, 17th September 2024, About A week ago 6

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Another Scottish council has declared a ‘housing emergency’ making it the 12th local authority in Scotland to declare a housing crisis.

East Renfrewshire council says challenges in the local housing market have made it difficult to keep up with demand.

East Renfrewshire has the lowest percentage of social housing in mainland Scotland, with only 11.4% of homes in the region being social housing, whereas the Scottish average is 22.9%.

The news comes after the Scottish government declared a housing emergency earlier this year and wants to introduce rent controls to tackle the housing crisis.

Almost 200 households in temporary accommodation

According to the council, homeless applications have jumped by 53% compared to just a 10% increase Scotland-wide.

East Renfrewshire council adds the number of council homes becoming available for new tenants—such as through people moving out—has dropped over the past five years, from around 260 to 190 homes per year.

The council says there are currently 350 households recognised as homeless and waiting for a place to live, with almost 200 households in temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfasts.

Increase in homelessness has grown

Housing and environment convener, Councillor Danny Devlin, said: “Declaring a housing emergency isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly. The increase in homelessness over the past five years has continued and has grown at significantly higher rates than the national average.

“The situation is exacerbated here in East Renfrewshire as it remains an extremely popular place to live and the local housing market is not equipped to deal with this increase in demand.

“We’ve actions in place to work towards mitigating the pressures and will continue to work with partners to prioritise actions and develop plans to tackle the crisis over the coming months and years.”

One of the plans the council is considering to address the housing emergency involves boosting the percentage of lets to homeless households to 70% for existing stock and 40% for new builds, along with reviewing agreements with local registered social landlords.


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Paul Essex

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11:56 AM, 17th September 2024, About A week ago

They have yet to explain how rent controls creates more housing.

It's almost as if they have not talked to any landlords at all!

Cider Drinker

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17:17 PM, 17th September 2024, About A week ago

Lower rents = fewer PRS properties. Simples. Nobody will buy a property to let out if rents are capped. May as well put the money elsewhere.

If they want to fix the problem and keep rents low, they need to reduce demand.

Janet Carnochan

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17:25 PM, 17th September 2024, About A week ago

I am in the process of reletting a property that I contemplated selling ( hope I don't live to regret it ). I'm in Dumfries & Galloway. Put property on a fb site at 10am. After 47 minutes I had 30 lots of tenants messaging me. After 2 hours I had 40 lots chasing it and I changed status to tenancy pending.
Never before have I seen it so manic. It was the same story, over & over, " I've been asked to leave as my landlord is looking to sell,"
Obviously the Scottish Government's policy's are working well!!!

Janet Carnochan

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17:29 PM, 17th September 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 17/09/2024 - 17:17
Plus an additional 6% stamp duty.

David Mensah

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10:11 AM, 21st September 2024, About 6 days ago

Reply to the comment left by Janet Carnochan at 17/09/2024 - 17:29
The Scottish gov't is making it harder for landlords. This reduces supply. Landlords who stick it out can be much more choosy.

The negative effects will be disproportionately be felt by the poor.

Reluctant Landlord

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9:10 AM, 23rd September 2024, About 4 days ago

12th declaration. That means the 'solutions' to the previous 11 have not worked despite every one being hailed as the answer AND that the situation has clearly got worse.

When will they actually get round to working out that the more they impose the situation only gets worse?

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