Outcome 7, 8 & 9 Housing Options & Outcome 10 Access to Social Housing

In 2019/20 we successfully housed 2,930 applicants from our Common Housing Register (CHR). When properties become available we aim to get them re-let within as short a time as possible to minimise rent loss. 

Our average time to re-let houses has reduced by almost seven days since 2013/14, for 2019/20 we achieved an average of 21.6 days to re-let our homes.

This is significantly better than the Scottish Local Authority average of 37.9 days.

We continue to review our processes to ensure homes that become empty are turnaround quickly and efficiently. We will try to ensure that outcomes meet the expectations and aspirations of our tenants and future tenants.

We also support tenants in their homes and we continue to help people to sustain their tenancies for more than one year.

Our 2019/20 performance shows a slight dip of 1.3% on the previous year however our sustainability levels since 2013/14 have increased by 3.2% overall.

To help tenants to continue to live independently in their own homes a range of adaptations can be made. We have invested over £1.8m this year to help our tenants live safely and independently in their homes.

The time taken to complete these adaptations can vary depending on the type of work required and the different needs of each tenant. We completed 1,098 adaptations to our tenant's homes in 2019/20, with an average timescale of 33.9 days to complete the adaptations.

We are investing significantly in building more new council homes through our new supply programme and are on target to deliver 5,000 affordable homes by 2035.

To date 772 new build homes have been completed with 162 on site and 43 of these expected to complete by April 2021.

The new build homes have also provided much needed accommodation for households affected by disability, including purpose built wheelchair accommodation. 

The council’s specification for its new build homes also includes a higher energy efficiency and sustainability standard than is required by current Building Regulations.  Additionally, New Supply homes are also digitally enabled providing pre wired connections for broadband.

Since 2018/19, 299 homes have been purchased through the Open Market Purchase Scheme (OMPS), and it is estimated this will increase to 400 by end of 2020/21.

This Scheme is providing much needed accommodation to meet identified local need, while also enabling common works to be progressed.