Item 8 - WD Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan
West Dunbartonshire Council · 20 August 2025
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 20 August 2025 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by the Chief Officer Housing Housing and Communities Committee: 20 August 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 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 – 4.10 of this report and in the action plan update within Appendix 1 of this report; (ii) Note the Chief Officer, Housing and Employability will continue to bring an update report to future Housing and Communities committee meetings. 3. Background 3.1 On 1 May 2024 the Housing and Communities Committee unanimously agreed to declare a Housing Emergency in West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC). The reasons behind the motion being raised was due to the extreme pressures facing housing and homelessness service in WDC. 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. 3.3 However, 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 applicants 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. ITEM 8
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the anticipation of more than 1100 new homeless assessments to be made during the 2025/26 reporting period. 3.4 As reported previously, the Council has been unable to fulfil all its 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%, significantly contributed to the Housing Emergency Declaration. 3.6 West Dunbartonshire Council was 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 15 May 2024, the Scottish Government declared a National Housing Emergency in the Scottish Parliament. The national action plan is still pending but the new Cabinet Secretary for Housing has made it a priority action. The Scottish Government has focused most of their attention and financial assistance on five local authorities who have declared housing emergencies (Glasgow, Edinburgh, South Lanarkshire, Fife and West Lothian) based on their perception that these areas have more significant need, however West Dunbartonshire continues to have the most acute levels of homelessness in Scotland per population. 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 The Project Board continues to meet monthly since the declaration. The project board agreed further progress will be made via existing governance arrangements and reported to the Housing Emergency Project Board. A Housing multi agency Housing Summit was held on 10 February 2025 where key stakeholders gathered to work on solutions to help end the emergency but also improve long term housing options within West Dunbartonshire. 80
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Stakeholders attended this successful event. The project Board have since then agreed to add a further 7 actions to the plan from suggestions made at the summit. 4.4 There are now a total of 68 actions within the plan. Of which 33 are now fully complete with another 18 actions more than half complete. 4.5 A full progress report 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 4.6 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, this has now been reinstated within the 2025/26 budget. The Council through strong tenant support has continued to deliver much needed new homes with 133 completed to date this financial year through the completion of the Clydebank East, Mount Pleasant and Pappert developments. The delivery of these new homes is enhanced by The Council’s buyback scheme addressing housing need in West Dunbartonshire, 10 buybacks in 2025/26 have been completed to date. Make Best Use of Existing Stock 4.7 There has been positive progress around void performance within the Council’s housing stock with voids been reduced to 150 at year end and continuing at that level. The new repairs policy is being monitored since its rollout in April 2025. Progress has been made on the review of supported accommodation. A refreshed drive with additional actions to further promote to maximise the use of Homeswapper will help meet housing need. The new empty homes strategy has brought 9 homes back into use in the first quarter of 25/26, two of which have been Council buy back acquisitions. Our damp and mould sensor project continues to carry out installations with now over 2000 homes having sensors installed. The review of our leases is nearing completion which will ensure our homes are meeting identified housing need within West Dunbartonshire. Enhancing Housing Access and the prevention of homelessness 4.8 Continued monitoring of the refreshed approach to assist with preventing negative housing situations including a refreshed housing pathway for WDC tenants who flee domestic violence. Actions in the new Housing Solutions Strategy are being taken forward. The transfer led allocations approach for new builds will continue to be maximised in 2025/26. There has also been significant progress made around a public awareness campaign on homelessness. The significant introduction of a common application form for social housing in West Dunbartonshire will be launching by quarter three of 2025/26.
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Strengthen the Financial viability and capacity of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and associated Housing and Homelessness budgets 4.9 Several actions continue to be 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 following the publication of the Housing Investment Taskforce report. A review of building services has taken place with several actions being taken into 2025/26 to be fully completed. 4.10 The Housing Emergency Project Board, led by the Chief Officer, Housing have utilised tools within their scope to help make the improvements since the declaration of the Housing Emergency. However, there continues to be pressures on demand for those with particular housing needs and the supply is unable to meet that demand. For further improvements and an end to the emergency may require changes to strategic priorities and committee decisions therefore the Board may bring proposals within future Housing and Communities Committee reports to enable these changes to help meet the housing needs of the citizens of West Dunbartonshire. In addition, key performance indicators are continually monitored by the Housing Emergency Project Board to help show the progress made through the action plan which will determine an end to the current emergency declaration. Lettings target for 2025/26 4.11 As reported at the May Committee it was agreed that 59% of available lets in 2025/26 will be allocated to households experiencing homelessness. Our Registered Social Landlords (RSL) partners have been asked the same. Below details agreements now in place; Registered Social Landlord Letting % Agreed Caledonia and Cordale Housing Association 59% Clydebank Housing Association 50% Dalmuir Housing Association 59% Dunbritton Housing Association 50% Knowes Housing association 50% Link Housing Association 59% Trafalgar Housing Association 60% Loretto Housing Association 59% 5. People Implications 5.1 Initial analysis of the action plan does not indicate any implications for people. However, many of the actions involved are additional tasks not within current remits therefore may lead to additional staffing resources where approval at futures committees if required would be requested. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications
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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 Councils because of declaring a Housing Emergency. 6.2 The Housing Emergency Project Board will consider how existing resources can be utilised to ensure delivery of the HEDAP. This will include a review of Core Budgets and any Temporary Funding Sources which may be utilised. 6.3 If supply is not increased and demand reduced it 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 partly triggered the declaration of the Housing Emergency, and it is highly probable these will continue without focussed, cross Council and Partnership action 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 HEDAP, 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) 9.1 An EIA has been carried out and there are no negative equalities impacts due to this update. A separate EIA screening will be conducted for any policy changes because of the implementation of the HEDAP. 10. Consultation 10.1 The draft Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan (HEDAP) was consulted with a range of key stakeholders including the West Dunbartonshire Tenants and Residents Organisation. The implementation of the HEDAP is predicated on a consultative and collaborative focus and several key stakeholders are represented on the Housing Emergency Project Board. 11. Strategic Assessment
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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: 7th August 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, July Background Papers: Housing Emergency Declaration, Housing and Communities Committee, May 2024 Report to Housing and Communities Committee; Housing Emergency Action Plan Wards Affected: All