Good progress is being made towards achieving targets set out in the Local Housing Strategy 2024-2029, including delivery of new affordable housing units and a reduction in homelessness cases.
Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, every council in Scotland must prepare a Local Housing Strategy (LHS) for their area, supported by an assessment of housing need and demand, and it must be kept under review.
The LHS is the sole strategic document for housing, bringing together a wide range of housing-related priorities into one place and enabling a coordinated response in terms of action. The current LHS approved at Cabinet in January 2024 and implemented from April 2024, sets out the strategy, priorities and plans for the delivery of housing and related services across East Lothian from 2024-2029.
Key achievements
In a report presented to Cabinet on Tuesday 13 May covering April 2024 to March 2025, key achievements were highlighted including:
- the delivery of 126 units of affordable housing during 2024/25 including 38 council properties for social rent, five open market acquisitions and 83 housing association properties for social rent (new build council properties have been delivered in Haddington, Musselburgh and Tranent while housing association properties have been delivered at Blindwells, Elphinstone and Dirleton)
- a reduction in the number of live homeless cases between January 2024 and March 2025, from 667 to 463
- several measures put in place in early 2024/25 to address high void (empty property) levels, have resulted in a reduction by over 25%
Cabinet also agreed key priorities for 2025/6, including:
- maximising the delivery of affordable housing
- developing an Empty Homes Strategy
- undertaking a review of rent level setting for council homes
- delivering the Homelessness Action Plan
- 10% of the total supply of affordable housing will be wheelchair accessible, with a minimum of 100 units delivered over the five years
"Real improvements"
Councillor Andy Forrest, Council Spokesperson for Housing and Property Maintenance, said: “Our Housing Team has achieved a huge amount over this past year despite enormous pressures on East Lothian’s social housing sector, which led to us declaring an Affordable Housing Emergency in November 2024. We know from our close partnership working with our tenants and partner agencies that increasing council housing stock, improving turnaround times for void properties and achieving a reduction in active homelessness cases were top priorities for our residents so to be able to report real improvements in these areas cannot be understated.
“Cabinet agreed to continue a range of measures aimed at bringing forward even more positive results. Working closely with tenants’ groups and other social landlords, we have ambitious targets around achieving vibrant and connected communities; increasing housing supply and affordability; preventing and responding to homelessness; improving the availability of adapted or new build properties to meet the needs of people with disabilities and delivering high quality, energy efficient, sustainable homes.”
Cabinet also noted positive results from the East Lothian Homelessness Action Plan 2024-26 and agreed to continue interim amendments to the council’s Housing Allocations Policy, that were approved on 10 September 2024, as these have been proving effective.
One interim change was put in place to allow qualifying single homeless households to access two-bedroomed properties, as there is a significant shortage of one bedroom homes available to the council and partners in East Lothian, which was increasing the time some people were spending in temporary accommodation.
Another change to be kept in place is the removal of the six-month policy in terms of a homeless household’s areas of choice and house types. Homeless households now must select a main town straight away, to maximise their choices and avoid delays. Housing staff have reported that this is working well, and the action has enabled improved flow through the system.
Both of these measures will continue to be closely monitored and will become part of a wider Housing Allocations Policy review, where they will be subject to full public consultation.
Balanced and sustainable communities
A third Housing report to Cabinet detailed council house allocations targets for 2025/6, which sit alongside the Allocations Policy to ensure the council meets its legal obligations according to national Allocations and Homelessness legislation. The policy, along with other associated actions, will also help the authority make best use of council housing stock, while achieving balanced and sustainable communities through local lettings plans.
There were a total of 662 allocations from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which means we have exceeded our target for two years running. Allocation percentages will remain unchanged for 2024/5 at 70% from the General Needs group, 25% from the Transfers group and 5% from Sustainable Communities. These percentages continue to help the council support those with the greatest need first while, through Local Lettings Plans, it can offer homes to those from different groups in certain areas to achieve balanced communities.