East Lothian Council declares ‘affordable’ housing emergency

Councilors in East Lothian have declared an ‘affordable housing emergency’ amid claims they are just ‘days away’ from losing promised land to new developments.

A special meeting of elected members was called to discuss the crisis facing the county’s housing supply after officials said a cut to expected funding from the Scottish Government meant they could no longer invest in sites.

The local government could lose as many as 1,200 affordable homes expected to be built over the next five years, according to a report by officials.

And it said that despite the council receiving “record amounts” of investment from the government in recent years, it was unable to implement its strategy due to a sudden drop in funding.

The meeting was told that East Lothian had become a “victim of its own success” after receiving £12 million a year in funding as part of its Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIP), before falling to just £7 last year million.

The report said: “If investment were available to deliver all of the SHIP projects, a total of 1,566 units could be completed over the next five years.

“Based on the actual allocation received, there is a very high risk that we will lose 1,226 affordable homes.”

Officials had initially invited councilors to declare a housing emergency, but presented them with an amended proposal describing it as an “affordable housing emergency” to reflect concerns over the loss of the sites.

Councilor Andy Forrest, Labor cabinet spokesman for housing, tabled a motion calling on the Scottish and UK governments to declare a state of emergency, saying: “An urgent response is needed to ensure we do not have affordable housing available through our Section 75 obligations”.

However, SNP councilor Lee-Anne Menzies expressed concern that simply declaring a state of emergency and asking for more money to secure the sites they stand to lose would not solve the problem.

Councilor Menzies called for a postponement of the statement calling for more information to be considered on alternative means of generating income, including borrowing from current housing stock by increasing rents.

She said: “We have the most expensive properties in East Lothian yet the lowest rents. I don’t think we have all the information we need about the options for making this statement.”

Her motion was defeated by 15 votes to four.

Councilor Shona McIntosh, the only Scottish Greens councilor, proposed an addition to Councilor Forrest’s motion calling for a housing plan to be drawn up within six months, looking at wider options to tackle the problem to grab.

It was also rejected by Labor and Conservative councilors, who voted by 15 to four, while SNP members backed it.

Council leader Norman Hampshire told action needed to be taken now to ensure the Scottish and UK governments were aware of the crisis facing East Lothian.

He said: “Families who are currently homeless aren’t worried about all the other issues, they just want a house over their heads.

“We have done everything the Scottish Government asked of us to bring housing to East Lothian, but the 25% of affordable homes need more funding.

“We are days away from losing these sites unless we can get this message across to the government now.”

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