A RADICAL masterplan has been drawn up to help Dumfries and Galloway claw its way out of the crippling housing crisis.
Council housing chiefs have come up with a series of steps to address the severe shortage of homes in the region – and to prevent hundreds of homeless people being stuck in B&Bs.
The proposals include repurposing other buildings across the region as houses, bringing more empty properties back into use, and fast-tracking the delivery of new build social homes.
A housing emergency declaration action plan will be tabled at the council’s tackling poverty, inequalities and housing sub committee next week. It states: “It is intended that the initial timescale for the action plan is 2025-2027 to ensure that the emergency is addressed as a matter of urgency.”
The figures in the report state that there are currently 250 households languishing in temporary accommodation across Dumfries and Galloway.
There are 313 households listed as having an “insecure tenure”, while 845 householders are waiting on properties to meet their specialist housing need.
Worryingly, there are 1060 cases of households living “below tolerable standards”.
It was also confirmed last year that nearly 700 cases of homeless people were sent to B&Bs in 2023/24 due to a lack of available properties. That heavy reliance on bed and breakfasts has also resulted in Dumfries and Galloway Council committing 318 breaches of government rules on accommodation standards.
A seminar dedicated solely to finding solutions to the housing emergency was held with all councillors on January 7. The key issues raised were the need to support the private rental sector and halt the reducing number of available homes, tackling empty properties, and identifying opportunities to enable the development of new homes.
The three key objectives in the housing emergency action plan are: Delivery of more homes in our region; making the best use of empty homes; and enhancing housing access and the prevention of homelessness.
Approaches will include lobbying government for additional resources and building on existing partnerships with registered social landlords and other stakeholders.
In its aim to deliver more homes, the action plan suggests: “Repurpose vacant spaces/buildings to homes and map public sector land and buildings that could potentially provide affordable homes.”
It adds: “Examine new ways to accelerate new build delivery considering housing emergency declaration in collaboration with colleagues from development management.”
In making use of empty homes, there are calls to participate in a national “match maker” scheme.
Housing chiefs are also prioritising working closely with their council tax colleagues “to engage with empty property owners”, and they are considering setting up social media and publicity campaigns to facilitate this.
