Over 6,000 disabled people waiting for housing in Edinburgh

A freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives has revealed that 6,193 disabled people are waiting for housing in Edinburgh.

This figures is higher than any other local authority in Scotland who provided figures. Larger councils like Glasgow and Fife refused to respond to the Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives.

The reported number of people waiting for accessible housing under the SNP government in Edinburgh for 2017 was 491.

The average waiting time for a disabled applicant in Edinburgh is 2.7 years (1,011 waiting days).

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP, said: “These figures clearly show that there is not enough accessible accommodation in Edinburgh to meet demand.

“The number of people waiting for accommodation is far too high with average waits over 1,000 days and many having to wait much longer.

“SNP Ministers continue to under-resource Edinburgh Council, meaning that vulnerable people cannot get the accommodation that they need.”

If only a certain government hadn’t started selling off council houses at bargain basement prices …