Item 9 - Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan Update
West Dunbartonshire Council · 25 February 2026
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 25 February 2026 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by the Chief Officer, Housing Housing and Communities Committee: 25 February 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ 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). 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 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 update from a second West Dunbartonshire Housing Summit which took place on 2nd February 2026 in 4.3 of this report. (iii) Note further updates on the Scottish Government response to the national emergency in sections 4.11 – 4.16 of this report and what it means for West Dunbartonshire Council’s Housing and Homelessness Services. (iv) Note the Housing Bill has now received Royal Assent on 6 November 2026 as detailed in section 4.17 of this report and note the sections to be taken forward in 2026/27. (v) Note our Housing First Service has been expanded utilising additional funds from the Scottish Government as detailed in 6.4, (vi) Note the Chief Officer, Housing will continue to bring an update report to future Housing and Communities committee meetings. 3. Background 3.1 On the 1 May 2024 Housing and Communities Committee agreed to declare a Housing Emergency in West Dunbartonshire due to extreme and unprecedented pressures facing housing and homelessness services in WDC. 3.2 This was despite positive achievements across Housing 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 ITEM 9
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The construction of new council homes at the following development sites Clydebank East, Mount Pleasant, Pappert and Gilmour Avenue. 3.3 Despite this, housing demand increased and the following metrics highlighted the pressures on Housing and Homelessness within West Dunbartonshire prior to the housing emergency declaration. 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. The expected new homeless assessments in excess of 1000 are to be made during the 2024/25 reporting period. 3.4 As reported previously to the Housing and Communities Committee, the Council had 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 of around 24% in 2024/25, 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, including four of the six housing stock transfer authorities. 3.7 Significantly on the 15 May 2024, the Scottish Government declared a National Housing Emergency in the Scottish Parliament. They launched their action plan in September 2025. 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 Housing Emergency Project Board (HEPB) continues to meet monthly basis since the housing emergency declaration led by the Chief Officer,
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Housing. The HEPB agreed further progress will be made via existing governance arrangements such as Housing Improvement Board, More Homes Project Board and Better Homes Project Board and reported to the overarching Housing Emergency Project Board. A Housing Summit of key Housing and Community Planning stakeholders was organised in February 2025. A second successful West Dunbartonshire Housing Summit was held on 2 February 2026 with over 60 attendees from every West Dunbartonshire Registered Social Landlord, Health and Social Care colleagues, Community Planning Partners, Tenant Leaders, Third Sector and Elected Members. Positive conversations took place on further collaborative actions and discussions for the coming year. A refreshed action plan will be presented to the Housing and Communities Committee in May 2026 reflecting the outputs of the Housing Summit. 4.4 There are now a total of 68 actions within the plan. Of which 35 are now fully complete with another 19 actions more than 50% 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 then 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 been reinstated. The Council supported by tenant prioritisation has continued to deliver much needed new homes. In 2025/26 the Council has overseen the completion of 88 new homes at Clydebank East, 19 new homes at Mount Pleasant, 26 new homes at Pappert, 2 at Gilmour Avenue and the completion of 17 new homes at Willox Park Phase to meet demand. The delivery of these new homes is supported by The Council’s buyback scheme targeting housing need in West Dunbartonshire with a particular focus on larger family homes, 29 buybacks year to date in 2025/26 with a further 6 currently under offer. The planning review is now at national level which West Dunbartonshire Council fed into and welcome the outcome. It is unlikely for any significant updates to be issued until after the elections in May. 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 continues to reduce further to 125 in 2025/26. The new repairs policy is being monitored since its rollout in April 2025. Progress has been made on the review of supported accommodation with one of our units closing to allow the next stages to be taken forward. A campaign drive along with additional actions to help promote and maximise the use of Homeswapper (mutual exchange scheme) to further meet housing need has been continuing with further progress to be made into 2026/27. The new empty homes strategy has brought 39 homes back into use year to date in 25/26, five of which have brought back into use as council homes. Our damp and mould sensor project continues to roll out across
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our housing stock, and the review of our leased properties will be completed before the end of 2025. 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 including exploring one access to housing. The transfer led allocations approach for new builds continues to be implemented and the outcomes of this will be reviewed at the end of the year. There has also been significant progress made around a public awareness campaign on homelessness but further progress it hoped through improved information on the webpages. The shared common online housing application form was launched in October with ongoing discussions and possible next stages leading to a West Dunbartonshire Common Housing Register are continuing into 2026/27. 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 continuing to be 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 additional social rented homes. The review of building services is now complete which ensured value for money for the service and tenants. 4.10 Key performance indicators continue to be monitored to help show the progress made through the action plan which will signify an end to the current emergency declaration. Scottish Governments Response to National Housing Emergency 4.11 The Cabinet Secretary for Housing announced the Scottish Government’s response to the national housing emergency declaration in May 2024 to the Scottish Parliament in September 2025, the response in the form of an action plan has three key pillars to meet the required objectives: 1. Ending children living in unsuitable accommodation 2. Supporting the housing needs of vulnerable communities 3. Building our future - maximising investment in Scotland’s housing sector 4.12 For the full list action plan and details can be found here. Since the launch of the plan progress has been made and funds distributed.
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4.13 The Council, both at political and officer levels has called for fairer funding distribution of Housing and Homelessness funding and this will need to continue. The recent additional allocation of £310k from an additional £40 million to support our acquisition programme while welcomed, the distribution funding formula used is heavily weighted to the larger local authorities. 4.14 The Council has well established acquisition (buybacks) and conversion (flipping) programmes in place therefore the additional funds allocated will be fully utilised. The Council has also been pioneering in rolling out a damp and mould sensor programme which will assist with new duties coming into force under Awaab’s Law details were laid out including timescales and penalties on 21 January 2026 with the law coming into effect on 6th October 2026. 4.15 The commitment for a further year of rapid rehousing transition funding with the additional financial support to assist with the delivery of Housing First will support the objectives being delivered through the Housing Solutions Strategy. From this £1 million uplift of Rapid Rehousing Transition funds for Housing First we were awarded £25,863 and £92,137 from the £3 million capital funding to expand Housing First. This has enabled us to procure a new youth Housing First service as a pilot, and double our wider Housing First support 4.16 On 22 January the First Minister has announced the creation of “More Homes Scotland”. A new executive agency that will work to accelerate new house building by focusing on large-scale affordable housing projects; rural and island housing; acquiring, preparing and releasing land; enabling infrastructure work to unlock stalled sites; and closer working with the Scottish National Investment Bank to make best use of private finance. The agency should be up and running by 2027/28. 4.17 Several of the actions are included within the new Housing Bill, which was passed by parliament on 30 September, and received Royal Assent on 6 November 2026. The initial areas which will be progressed from 2026/27 will be Awaab’s Law, updates on Domestic Violence protections and assessments of Rent controls but as further guidance is produced the impacts will be taken to a future the Housing and Communities Committee in 2026/27. 5. People Implications 5.1 Some of the actions involved are additional and not within current remits and therefore may lead to additional staffing resources. The new legislative duties also may require additional staffing resources. 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 Councils because of declaring a Housing Emergency.
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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 The additional allocation to West Dunbartonshire Council of acquisition funding of £310k will be drawn down from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme funding in 2025/26, the allocation will further support the Council’s buyback scheme and will focus on moving children out of a homeless environment into permanent accommodation. 6.4 A procurement exercise has been carried out to expand the Housing First Support service and trial a youth pilot using the additional £118,000 as detailed in 4.16. In line with our Scheme of Delegation approval was granted from the Chief Officer for Housing. 6.5 Housing supply continues to be the key factor in terms of the national and local housing emergencies and if not increased and demand reduced it will lead to continued pressures on temporary accommodation and ultimately Bed & breakfast use which has negative financial implications for the Council’s general fund. 6.6 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. 7.3 In Q3 we have seen a significant increase of the use of Bed & Breakfast from five occasions in Q1 to 80. This has also then led to our first breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order with 29 in Q3 and 0 in both previous quarters. This is due to increase demands and bottlenecks around needs for 1- and 4-bedroom properties. Reinforcing our need for a new build programme to build to match our needs. 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.
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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 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 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 Date: 11th February 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ 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, January 2026 Background Papers: Housing Emergency Declaration, Housing and Communities Committee, May 2024 Tackling Scotland’s Housing Emergency, Scottish Government, September 2025 Supporting documents - Tackling Scotland's Housing Emergency - gov.scot Wards Affected: All