Item 9 - Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan
West Dunbartonshire Council · 7 May 2025
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 7 May 2025 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by the Chief Officer, Housing and Employability Housing and Communities Committee: 7 May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: West Dunbartonshire Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide members with an update on the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan (HEDAP) which was formulated to address the emergency following the Council’s housing emergency declaration on 1st May 2024. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Housing and Communities Committee: (i) Note the progress to date and the implementation of the key actions of the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan as summarised in section 4.1 – 4.9 of this report and in the action plan update within Appendix 1 of this report; (ii) Note the agreed letting target for 2025/26 to households experiencing homelessness is to be 59% as detailed in section 4.10-4.14 of this report, and (iii) Note the Chief Officer, Housing and Employability will continue to bring an update report to future Housing and Communities Committee meetings regarding the housing emergency declaration including an updated action plan as noted in section 4.3. 3. Background 3.1 On the 1st May 2024 Housing and Communities Committee unanimously agreed to declare a Housing Emergency in West Dunbartonshire. The reasons behind the motion being raised was due to the extreme pressures facing housing and homelessness services in the local authority area. 3.2 This was despite positive achievements of the service to help manage the acute housing need in West Dunbartonshire including the following: 262 households prevented from experiencing homelessness, Progress in reducing the number of empty homes (council voids); and The construction of new council homes at the following development sites Clydebank East, Mount Pleasant, Pappert and Gilmour Avenue. ITEM 9
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3.3 Despite this, housing demand has increased rather than the expected reduction and therefore the following metrics highlight the pressures on the housing and homelessness systems within West Dunbartonshire. Over five thousand on the Council’s housing waiting lists, 274 households in temporary accommodation awaiting an offer of permanent housing, of those eighty-nine households have children within them, and The anticipation of more than 1100 new homeless assessments to be made during the 2024/25 reporting period. 3.4 As reported previously to the committee the Council has been unable to fulfil all our statutory duties under homelessness legislation and has incurred sixty-eight breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO) following 274 households being placed in Bed & Breakfast Accommodation during 2023/24. 3.5 The increased supply of new social homes is the key element to help address the demand pressures, The funding cut to the wider Affordable Housing Supply Programme funding of around 24% in 2024/25, significantly contributed to the Housing Emergency Declaration. 3.6 West Dunbartonshire Council were the fifth local authority to declare a housing emergency following declarations made in Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Fife. Since the West Dunbartonshire declaration, a further eight local authorities have followed suit and made a housing emergency declaration (South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Angus, Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeen, East Renfrewshire and East Lothian). Therefore 13 of 32 Scottish local authorities have declared housing emergencies. 3.6 Significantly on the 15th May 2024, the Scottish Government declared a National Housing Emergency in the Scottish Parliament although the implications of this are not known at the time of writing. 4. Main Issues 4.1 The action plan has four main themes they are as follows: Theme 1 - Deliver and maintain More Homes - West Dunbartonshire approach to the delivery of affordable housing, Theme 2 - Make Best Use of Existing Stock, Theme 3 - Enhancing Housing Access and the prevention of homelessness, and Theme 4 - Strengthen the Financial viability and capacity of the Housing Revenue Account and associated Housing and Homelessness budgets. 4.2 There have been nine Project Board meetings in total since the declaration. The project board agreed further progress will be made via existing governance arrangements and reported to the Housing Emergency Project Board. By year end there has been progress on all the 61 actions including 25 being fully completed.
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4.3 To assist with further progress a Housing Summit was held on 10th February 2025 gathering key stakeholders with an aim to work on solutions to help end the emergency but also improve housing options long term within West Dunbartonshire Council. 80 Stakeholders attended which was a successful event with purposeful and enthusiastic conversation taking place which have led to a list of additional actions to be considered by the Project Board. These actions are in the final stages of being agreed through governance structures and an updated action plan will be brought to the next committee. 4.4 A full progress report for 2024/25 is attached as Appendix 1 of this report and some highlights are summarised in the sections below: - Deliver and maintain More Homes - West Dunbartonshire approach to the delivery of affordable housing 4.5 The Housing and Communities Committee Convenor wrote to the Housing Minister requesting the reinstatement of the funding cut to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme funding. Our funding for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme has now been fully reinstated for 2025/26. The Council supported by tenant prioritisation has continued to deliver much needed new homes and is currently on site in several development sites across the local authority area (Gilmour Avenue, Pappert and Mount Pleasant, Willox Park, with Braehead and Campbell Street starting early 25/26). The delivery of these new homes is supported by the Council’s buyback scheme targeting addressing housing need in West Dunbartonshire, 33 buybacks were completed in 2024/25, 8 of which enabled families to move directly out of temporary accommodation. Make Best Use of Existing Stock 4.6 There has been positive progress around void performance within the Council’s housing stock with voids been reduced to 150 at year end. In partnership with others, we are working to reduce the delays caused with energy supply issues in Council void homes. The new repairs policy has been completed and been rolled out on the 1st April 2025. The new empty homes strategy brought 29 homes back into use in 2024/25 exceeding the target. Our damp and mould sensor project has reached 1720 installations by year end. Other progress includes, the review has begun of all Council leased properties to ensure best use of stock and there has been further work around maximising the use of Homeswapper to meet housing needs. Enhancing Housing Access and the prevention of homelessness 4.7 In partnership with the Violence Against Women Partnership a refreshed approach has been delivered to assist with preventing negative housing situations including a refreshed housing pathway for WDC tenants who flee domestic violence. A new Housing Solutions Strategy has been approved, and the action plan will be taken forward from 1st April. A new transfer led allocations approach for new builds has also been delivered through the Clydebank East development and that will be subject to a review over the next few months. There has also been significant progress made around a public awareness campaign on homelessness, on the actions to reduce children in
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temporary accommodation, and work on the common application form which is hoped to have a roll out date in the summer 2025. Strengthen the Financial viability and capacity of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and associated Housing and Homelessness budgets 4.8 Several actions are being taken forward through the Housing Emergency Project Board and the HRA Value for Money group which now meets on a weekly basis to help strengthen the financial health of the Housing Revenue Account. Council Officers are also part of a national conversation with the Scottish Government, COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and ALACHO (Association of Chief Housing Officers) to investigate the possibility of HRA debt relief to enable local authorities to build or acquire more social rented homes. A decision on this is due imminently from the Scottish Government. A review of building services has taken place with several actions being taken into 2025/26 to be fully complete. 4.9 We continue to monitor the key performance indicators developed to help monitor the progress made through the action plan which will signify an end to the current emergency declaration. We intend to add several more indicators to help enable a better understanding that we have ended the emergency. 4.10 We run modelling annually to allow us to agree a letting target for households who experience homelessness. The modelling takes into consideration the backlog of homeless households waiting to be housed, projected future homeless decisions and projected letting activity, to calculate the number of lets that will be required for homeless households on an annual basis. 4.11 The modelling has been completed with the target for the first year of “More than a Roof” strategy to reduce time households spend in temporary accommodation to 13 weeks been included and it shows the following; Projected Demand (homeless applications with a duty to accommodate) 1082 Projected total turnover for the year 1175* Percentage required to meet full demand 92% *Includes WDC and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) lets 4.12 However, to ensure we meet all needs we have agreed that 59% of all WDC lets in 2025/26 will be let to households experiencing homelessness. Total Homeless lets 693 (531 WDC, 162 RSL) Shortfall of lets required 389 Additional temporary accommodation required due to the shortfall 64 4.13 We have asked the other Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) in
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West Dunbartonshire to match us with 59%. We are awaiting confirmation from each provider at the time of writing. 5. People Implications 5.1 Initial analysis of the action plan does not indicate any people implications. However, many of the actions involved are additional tasks not within current remits therefore may lead to additional staffing resources which we would seek for approval at futures committees if required. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 The Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan (HEDAP) will need to be considered within the context existing resources available to West Dunbartonshire Council across both the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA). There is currently no additional Grant or Subsidy funding available to West Dunbartonshire Council because of the declaration of a Housing Emergency. 6.2 The Housing Emergency Project Board will consider how existing resources can be utilised to ensure delivery of the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan (HEDAP). This will include a review of core budgets and any temporary funding sources which may be utilised. 6.3 If we are unable to increase supply and reduce demand will lead to continued pressures on temporary accommodation and ultimately Bed & breakfast use which has financial implications. Any funding reviews and subsequent implications would be brought to future committees. 6.4 There are no procurement implications to note. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 Regular breaches of statutory homelessness duties were key contributing factors to the declaration of the Housing Emergency, and it is highly probable these will continue without focussed, collaborative actions led through the Housing Emergency Project Board. 7.2 The Council is also likely to experience significant legal, regulatory, and reputational risk due to shortages of housing supply and related services. Mitigation of these risks are included within the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan, and these will be managed through the Housing Emergency Project Board. 8. Environmental Sustainability 8.1 The delivery of new homes is within the approved More Homes zero carbon approach. Our current and future approach to strategic housing asset management will continue to prioritise a ‘zero carbon’ approach to decision making and deliverability and this will be done the aims of the Housing Asset Management Strategy and the Council’s Climate Change Strategy. 9. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA)
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9.1 An EIA screening will be conducted for any policy changes because of the implementation of the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan. 10. Consultation 10.1 The draft Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan was consulted with a range of key stakeholders including the West Dunbartonshire Tenants and Residents Organisation. The implementation of the Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan is predicated on a consultative and collaborative focus and several key stakeholders are represented on the Housing Emergency Project Board. 11. Strategic Assessment 11.1 Having considered the Council's strategic priorities, this report contributes significantly to all strategic priorities. • Our Communities - Resilient and Thriving • Our Environment - A Greener Future • Our Economy - Strong and Flourishing • Our Council - Inclusive & Adaptable Peter Barry Chief Officer, Housing and Employability Date: 23rd April 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Person/s to Contact: John Kerr – Housing Development and Homelessness Manager, Housing Development and Homelessness Team, Housing and Employability, telephone: 07793717981, email: john.kerr@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Claire McKay – Housing Development Co-ordinator, Housing Development and Homelessness Team, Housing and Employability, email: Claire.Mckay@west- dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: 1. Housing Emergency Action Plan, April Background Papers: Housing Emergency Declaration, Housing and Communities Committee, May 2024 Report to Housing and Communities Committee; Housing Emergency Action Plan Wards Affected: All