Children lifted out of poverty thanks to housing focus with new homes

New council housing developments in West Dunbartonshire have helped lift 129 children out of homelessness, supporting a key aim of the Council’s Housing Emergency Declaration Action Plan.

Chaired by Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal, the Council’s Housing and Communities Committee declared a housing emergency in May 2024 with the Scottish Government declaring a national housing emergency just two weeks later.

Since then, a dedicated project board has been set up, led by the Council’s Chief Officer of Housing and supported by senior officers from across the organisation. The group meets monthly monitoring progress, with regular updates provided to the Council’s Housing and Communities Committee.

The Action Plan focuses on four main priorities:

• delivering and maintaining homes
• making better use of existing housing stock
• improving access to housing and preventing homelessness
• strengthening the financial sustainability of housing budgets.

Meanwhile, the Council has continued to deliver its ambitious council house building programme.

Over the past 18 months, new housing developments at Clydebank East, Mount Pleasant and Pappert have been completed. Analysis shows these developments have played a major role in reducing homelessness among families, with 129 children moving into safe and secure, permanent homes.

Around 70% of new Council homes are first offered to existing tenants who need to move because their current homes no longer meet their needs. The remaining 30% are offered to people on the housing waiting list, including those who are homeless.

When an existing council tenant moves into a new build home, their previous property becomes available for someone else. This process helps create further housing opportunities and increases the positive impact of each new development, including providing homes for those who are homeless.

Monitoring of recent housing completions shows that both the first allocations and the subsequent re‑lets of homes have significantly contributed to meeting local housing needs.

Councillor Johal said: “These figures are encouraging and show how important it is that we are focused on key aims having declared a housing emergency in West Dunbartonshire.

“We know there are many reasons why families become homeless and we work closely within our communities to understand these and deal with the root cause. Our focus on lifting children out of homelessness is a key priority for us and our teams will continue to strive to do the best for our children, giving them better prospects moving forward.”

Vice Convener of Housing and Communities, Councillor Hazel Sorrell, added: “Declaring a housing emergency was a bold step for the Council but it has provided us with laser-sharp focus to reach those in need. These are really positive figures which we will continue to build upon to deliver for residents.”