Tag: Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron

Housing Convener welcomes funding boost for affordable housing

Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron has welcomed an increase in funding for affordable housing.

A rise in the Scottish Government’s ‘voids and acquisition’ fund, which will double in its second year, means Edinburgh will receive £28.6m, an additional £13.8m compared to 2024/25. This brings the total Scottish Government funding for affordable housing supply in Edinburgh to £73.7m in 2025/26.

The funding is targeted at councils with the highest sustained pressures on temporary accommodation and is focused on the acquisition of existing properties, in particular family-sized homes.

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “I warmly welcome this award of £73.7 million for Edinburgh from the Scottish Government and believe this funding recognises the pressures in Edinburgh in terms of acute housing demand and increased dependence and spend on temporary accommodation.

“Sadly, far too many families in Edinburgh continue to struggle to find affordable places to live and are living in temporary accommodation. This is why we are prioritising acquiring much-needed larger, family-sized homes for residents across the city, helping to reduce further the number of children living in unsuitable accommodation.  This funding will go towards that.

“We’re also now fast approaching the two-year anniversary of declaring a housing emergency in Edinburgh, and whilst we are making every effort to deliver more new homes, housing supply simply isn’t meeting Edinburgh’s level of housing demand.

“Much more needs to be done, and much more money needs to come to Edinburgh.”

Find out more about affordable homes in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener reflects on World Homeless Day

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron writes about the challenges facing Edinburgh, and the work being done to tackle them:

In Edinburgh, our population continues to grow at speed and for some years now, housing demand has been significantly outstripping supply.  

Since declaring a Housing Emergency nearly two years ago, this Council, together with housing providers and partners across the sector, has continued to grapple with this crisis within statutory and policy frameworks, including the new Housing Bill, and resources available.

World Homeless Day 2025 coincides with Challenge Poverty Week, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reporting earlier this week that almost 250,000 children in Scotland are experiencing poverty.

Eighty thousand Edinburgh residents live in relative poverty, comprising one in five children, and 5,500 of our households are without settled housing, living in temporary accommodation.

To tackle this, the Council’s approach focuses on prevention, early intervention and mitigation.

Central to preventing homelessness is making sure everyone has access to a safe, warm place to stay; and investing in help and support for those at risk of losing their homes.

In 2024, we helped prevent homelessness for 2,622 households. This work ranges from our Early Intervention team, who reach out to all households who contact homelessness services, to specialist advice and support provided by our Private Rented Sector team.

Where we have been unable to prevent individuals and families from losing their homes, we are working hard to provide suitable alternative accommodation through our Housing Emergency Action Plan (HEAP).

Our long-term plans to reduce the need for temporary accommodation and improve the quality and quantity of our housing stock include our ambitious housebuilding programme, efforts to acquire new homes directly from providers, bringing empty homes back into use, and investing in the retrofitting of existing housing stock.

This World Homeless Day, as Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, I am acutely aware of the power of work we all still need to do and the resources we need from Government to deliver meaningful increases in our housing supply so that every person and family in Edinburgh can be living in a warm, safe, energy efficient home.

Edinburgh’s mixed tenure service ‘is transforming lives’

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron writes about the improvements the city council is making to blocks in Edinburgh:

Across Edinburgh, hundreds of residents are seeing improvements to their homes and neighbourhoods, thanks to the Council’s Mixed Tenure Improvement Service (MTIS).

Launched in Wester Hailes in 2021, the initiative tackles the long-standing challenge of maintaining mixed-tenure buildings – where some homes are owned by the council and some by private owners. Many of these blocks need significant investment to common areas due to age, lack of formal factoring arrangements and regular maintenance of shared parts of the blocks.

In Magdalene, Bingham and The Christians, work has been underway since summer 2024, with many homes are now nearing completion. Entrances are brighter and more secure, paths are safer and more accessible, and anti-social behaviour has been reduced by creating more welcoming, well-kept communities.

These works are complex and necessary, and I am pleased that they are delivering positive and visible results.

Together with councillor colleagues I recently visited the area to see first hand the scale and quality of the work taking place. We visited original blocks, some mid-refurbishment and some nearing completion. What stood out to me is how much the work has had an immediate effect, not only on how buildings look and function, but also on how people feel about where they live.

Residents have told us how much they value the work being done and it’s encouraging to hear from residents the sense of community and pride these improvements are helping to support and flourish.

That is why the MTIS is such an important and valued part of the city’s wider housing strategy, by allowing us to tackle long-standing maintenance issues in a way which benefits all parties. Private owners are supported through the process, and council tenants and residents benefit from living in buildings that are properly looked after.

Of course, this work isn’t without its challenges. Co-ordinating works among different owners takes time, patience and care but the results we are seeing now clearly demonstrate the success of the service and more importantly, that residents value it.

As the programme continues to roll out across the city, we shall keep listening to residents, working with owners, and making sure these improvements deliver lasting value.

Everyone deserves a home that is safe, warm, and well-maintained. Through this service, we are making that a reality and I look forward to seeing such progress continue.