Shelter Scotland welcomes Edinburgh’s housing emergency declaration
Councillors in Edinburgh have overwhelmingly voted to recognise and seek to address the scale of Edinburgh’s housing crisis.
In a first for the city, members agreed to officially declare an emergency today (Thursday 2 November) during a Full Council meeting.
It comes as Shelter calls on local authorities to take concerted action across the country, and as homelessness reaches close to 5,000 households a night in the Capital despite a huge amount of preventative work by the third sector, Council and partners.
Councillor Jane Meagher, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: Edinburgh is a caring, welcoming city and our council officers, charities and partners do an incredible job supporting our most vulnerable residents. Sadly, however, despite us doubling the Council’s homelessness budget over the last three years, we are now at risk of failing households who need our help most.
“Edinburgh may be a wealthy city on the surface, but we are seeing demand for homes far outstrip supply. Close to 5,000 households including many children will need to live in temporary accommodation this Christmas, because of this housing shortage.
“This is not a new challenge, but it is at the stage of breaking point. Rents are being driven up, the cost of living continues to put pressure on household bills and homelessness is rising. We have ambitious housebuilding plans, but we face rising construction costs as a result of inflation and difficulties securing land. This is against a backdrop of Edinburgh having the lowest proportion of homes for social rent in all of Scotland.
“By declaring a housing emergency, we hope to draw widescale attention to an issue that demands urgent and united action. Every single person deserves a warm, safe, and affordable place to call home and we can address this, if we act now.
“I’m pleased this decision received such powerful support today from Councillors and we will now work towards establishing a Housing Emergency Action Plan, while seeking the resources necessary to achieve its success.”
Shelter Scotland has welcomed the City of Edinburgh Council’s declaration of a housing emergency.
The capital becomes the first city in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, with councillors backing a motion at today’s full council meeting.
The motion also commits the council to developing a housing emergency action plan alongside key housing, social justice, and other stakeholders from across the city.
The housing and homelessness charity pointed to the chronic shortage of social housing in Edinburgh, the record numbers of children stuck in temporary accommodation in the city, and the rising average cost of private renting as evidence of a housing emergency in Edinburgh.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “Rents are out of control, record numbers of kids have nowhere to call home, more and more people are becoming homeless – Edinburgh is clearly in a housing emergency.
“The housing emergency is touching communities across Scotland, but a chronic lack of social homes, and the enormous number of properties used exclusively for short-term lets are just some of the factors which have made the situation especially acute in Edinburgh.
“By coming together to acknowledge that reality today, councillors now have licence to deliver the emergency response we need.
“Of course, there are aspects of the housing emergency that are beyond the council’s control, both the UK and Scottish governments must share responsibility, but it’s clear that a business-as-usual approach isn’t going to cut it anymore.
“People in the capital are crying out for action – every level of government has a duty to respond.
“Today’s declaration of a housing emergency is just the start of the journey; Shelter Scotland is ready to support the council as it prepares its action plan and we’ll be monitoring progress closely.”
Scottish Labour Lothians MSP Sarah Boyack has today called on the Scottish Government to provide targeted and substantial resource to fix Edinburgh’s housing Crisis.
In anticipation of the City of Edinburgh Council declaring that Edinburgh is facing a housing crisis, Sarah Boyack MSP asked the First Minister to provide the resources and funding needed to fix Edinburgh’s broken housing market.
Commenting Ms Boyack said, “Humza Yousaf’s empty words at FMQs do nothing to alleviate the concern of the 5000 families living in temporary accommodation here in Edinburgh.
“With rents skyrocketing and families being forced out of Edinburgh the SNP Government has presided over a national failure in housebuilding.
“We need more affordable and social housing in Edinburgh, and with 84% of Scotland’s population growth being concentrated in the Lothians we urgently need the funding to address Edinburgh’s housing crisis.”
Lesley Anderson, Regional Director at the Scottish Procurement Alliance – which was crucial to the delivery of 567 affordable homes last year, including 193 in Edinburgh – commented on the city’s housing emergency.
She said: “The announcement of Edinburgh’s housing crisis is no surprise and a clear wakeup call that we need immediate action to empower social landlords to get social homes back on track.
“It’s a Scotland-wide problem. By providing better funding and cutting the red tape, we can enable associations to deliver quality, community-driven social housing.
“With a raft of head winds facing the housing sector at the moment, Scotland’s Housing to 2040 vision will be a major challenge to achieve.
“Other regulations and aspirations aren’t helping the cause. With the uncertainty of the proposed Scottish Passivhaus equivalent standard from December 2024, adding to the hefty load the sector is already carrying.
“Recent rent freezes, soaring prices, inflationary pressures, skills shortages and sustainability of contractors have all played a part in the reduction of new build development and existing unoccupied social housing.
“Housing providers across Scotland need more support and guidance if they are to have any chance of meeting government-led targets and manoeuvre this crisis. “
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