Item 8 - Appendix 2
West Dunbartonshire Council · 12 August 2026
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 12 August 2026 and its agenda
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Housing and Communities Committee – Underoccpancy Appendix – Allocations Paper July 29, 2026 Official Sensitive Appendix 2 Note Project Name Underoccupancy - 2-bedroom properties Prepared by Claire McKay Date 29th July 2026 Background One of the key drivers behind declaring a housing emergency is the imbalance between demand and available housing supply. This is particularly evident in certain property sizes, most notably one-bedroom homes, where demand significantly exceeds availability. The data below highlights that one-bedroom properties make up around a quarter of our stock, yet account for nearly a third of turnover. Demand is especially acute among homeless households (approximately 80%), as well as general applicants (around 60%) and transfer requests (approximately 50%). Stock Profile by Property Size and Type Bed size Number 1 2755 (26%) 2 4642 3 2638 4 353 5 20 6 2 7 2 8 2 Property type Number Houses 2970 Four in a block 3112 Tenement 1535 Multi 1174 Mini 72 Duplux/maisonette 1349 Multi sheltered 48 Lets in 2025/26 Row Labels Bed nos 1 Bed nos 2 Bed nos 3 Bed nos 4 Grand Total GEN 63 108 35 1 207 ITEM 8 - APPENDIX 2
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Housing and Communities Committee – Underoccpancy Appendix – Allocations Paper July 29, 2026 Official Sensitive HLESS 212 230 68 14 523 TRAN 55 88 42 8 196 YCL 2 2 4 YHO 7 3 10 RGN 15 1 15 Grand Total 358 (37%) 433 145 23 958* * (909 lets excluding mutual exchanges) of the 909 lets of which 408 were 2 bedrooms. 213 went to households experiencing homeless which is 52%. Of the 408 57 were houses. Live Homeless cases Live cases Mar 26 Apr 26 May 26 Total number of live homeless cases 428 407 385 Number of live homeless cases open over a year 58 54 56 Number of live homeless cases with children 84 72 57 Total number of children within live homeless cases 187 165 131 Total number of children within live homeless cases not in temporary accommodation 105 81 57 Number of live homeless cases On Offer 45 58 35 Number of live homeless cases Awaiting Offer 142 135 151 Number of live homeless cases with an active Section 5 referral 29 29 22 Demand Wait list No. 1 bed No. 2 bed No. 3 bed No. 4 bed No. 5 bed No. 6 bed General 1467 (56%) 627 (24%) 349(13%) 151(6%) 40(1.5%) 13(0.5%) Transfer 425 (46%) 244 (27%) 148 (16% 79 (9%) 27 (3%) 8 (1%) YHO 6 (100%) YCL 17 (100%) Homeless 327 (85%)** 26 (7%) 20 (5%) 12(2.5%) 2(0.5%) 1(0.25%) **number on the current waiting list is 122 (65% of the 187) In 25/26 of the 1055 homeless cases 758 were single people (72%) The above helps to demonstrate the different priority groups who are all competing for 1- bedroom properties versus the higher availability and turnover of two-bedroom properties. Despite our new build and buyback programmes having a focus to increase supply of 1 bedroom. Below shows the points levels of applicants on both 1 bed lists and 2 bed. It shows that there are a higher number of applicants who have higher points = greater need on the one-bedroom lists compared to the two-bedroom lists.
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Housing and Communities Committee – Underoccpancy Appendix – Allocations Paper July 29, 2026 Official Sensitive Decision Made by Housing Improvement Board Current data shows a clear imbalance between demand and supply: demand for one-bedroom properties significantly exceeds supply, while two-bedroom properties are more readily available. Previous reports have identified that failure to meet letting targets for homeless households, youth priority groups, and young care leavers is largely due to the shortage of one-bedroom accommodation. Underoccupation of two-bedroom properties has been used on an ad hoc basis but more in harder to let areas. To better meet demand, it has been agreed that a 12-month trial will begin from 1st September 2026 formally allow the underoccupation of two-bedroom properties for applicants with the highest level of need. During this period, allocations would prioritise applicants based on housing need (i.e. highest points), rather than strictly matching property size to household size. This means applicants assessed as needing two bedrooms would retain equal priority, but allocation decisions would focus primarily on urgency of need. This approach aims to: • Improve performance against all letting targets • Eliminate waiting lists for young care leavers (YCL) and youth homelessness (YHO) applicants • Reduce the number of households experiencing homelessness • Shorten time spent in temporary accommodation There are additional longer-term benefits. Underoccupying properties can help future-proof housing need—for example, if a single applicant later has a child, they will already be appropriately housed and will not require a transfer. An additional positive it may help let harder to let areas but is not the main driver for the policy change. The approach will remain person-centred. Applicants will not be required to accept a two- bedroom property; if they decline or cannot afford it, they will continue to be considered only for
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Housing and Communities Committee – Underoccpancy Appendix – Allocations Paper July 29, 2026 Official Sensitive one-bedroom accommodation. Things to note The proposal excludes two-bedroom houses from underoccupation, as these are more suitable for, and should be prioritised for, households with children. The allocation process for properties which have adaptions will continue as they always have and be allocated to a household who has a need for the adaptions so will go to either a 2 bedroom or 1 bedroom household who has a requirement for the adaption and has the highest points. A break/pause/amendment clause – the pilot will be for 12 months however, if a significant unintended impact is realised prior to the 12 months it also for the Access to Housing Board to pause, review and amend the pilot before the 12 months. Monitoring The Access to Housing Board will monitor the pilot on an ongoing basis to evaluate its impact, including the reasons for any refusals. It has been agreed that an additional refusal category will be introduced for applicants who state that they do not wish to under-occupy a property or can afford to secure alternative accommodation. Applicants refusing an offer for either of these reasons will not be made any further offers of two-bedroom properties.