COUNCILLORS in East Lothian have declared an "affordable housing emergency" amid claims they are just "days away" from losing promised land on new developments.
A special meeting of elected members was called to discuss the crisis facing the county’s housing supply after officers said a cut in expected Scottish Government funding meant they could not longer invest in sites.
A report by officers said that the local authority faced losing out on up to 1200 affordable homes expected to be built over the next five years.
And it said that despite the council receiving "record amounts" of investment from the government in recent years, it was left unable to fulfil its strategy because of a sudden drop in funds.
The meeting was told East Lothian had become a "victim of its own success" after receiving £12 million a year in funds as part of its Strategic Housing Investment Plans(SHIP) before it dropped to just £7m last year.
The report said: “If investment were available to deliver all of the projects set out in the SHIP a total of 1566 unit could complete over the next five years.
“Based on the actual allocation received, there is a very high risk that we could lose 1,226 units of affordable housing.”
Officers had initially invited councillors to declare a housing emergency but brought an amended proposal to them describing it as an "affordable housing emergency" to reflect the concerns about losing the sites.
Councillor Andy Forrest, Labour cabinet housing spokesperson, moved a motion calling on the Scottish and UK Government to their declaration of such an emergency saying “it requires an urgent response to ensure we do not lose affordable housing units available through our Section 75 obligations”.
SNP councillor Lee-Anne Menzies, however raised concerns that simply declaring the emergency and asking for more money to secure the sites which they face losing would not solve the problem.
Menzies called for a postponement of the declaration calling for more information on alternative means of raising revenue, including borrowing against current housing stock by raising the rent, to be considered.
She said: “We have the highest priced housing in East Lothian yet the lowest council rent. I do not think we have all the information we need on options to make this declaration.”
Her motion was voted down by 15 votes to four.
Councillor Shona McIntosh, the county’s sole Scottish Greens councillor, proposed an addition to Forrest’s motion which would call for officers to additionally draw up a housing plan to be brought back in six months looking at wider options for tackling the issue. It was also rejected by Labour and Conservative councillors who voted by 15 to four with SNP members supporting her.
Council leader Norman Hampshire told the meeting action had to be taken now to ensure the Scottish and UK Government were aware of the crisis facing East Lothian.
He said: “Families who are sitting homeless right now are not worried about all the other issues, they just want a home over their heads.
“We have done everything asked of us by the Scottish Government to bring housing to East Lothian but the 25 per cent affordable housing needs more funding.
“We are just days away from losing these sites unless we can get this message across to government now.”
