Housing Emergency declared

The move was approved by Council Executive at their meeting on 28 May 2024, and sees West Lothian follow an increasing number of councils making the declaration, including Argyll and Bute, City of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife and West Dunbartonshire.

The Scottish Government also declared a Housing Emergency earlier this month.

As of April 2024, the service holds a total of 11,269 applications for council housing, with an average of over 350 new applications each month, with a current live caseload of 1,392 homeless cases.

The implementation of the proposals contained within the Housing (Scotland) Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament in March 2024 are also expected to add more pressures on housing and homelessness in West Lothian.

Executive councillor for housing George Paul said: "The imbalance between supply and demand for permanent social rented accommodation continues to be a key challenge in West Lothian.

"Our Housing staff carry out an amazing job of preventing homelessness and supporting those who seek housing, with the limitations they face.

"There remains a high number of people applying to the council for permanent housing through the council's allocations policy, as well as accommodation required for homeless applicants to enable the council to discharge is statutory homeless duty.

"By declaring a Housing Emergency, we aim to acknowledge the scale of the issue in West Lothian and appeal for the additional support we need to try and tackle the issues."

The council will now write to Scottish Government Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan MSP, to advise of the declaration of the Housing Emergency in West Lothian and request an urgent meeting.

It will also request that the Scottish Government both increases the revenue grant funding made available to the council in 2024/25 to £297,000 in support of the council's

Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP), and reverse its decision to cut the affordable housing programme budget by 26%.