West Lothian Council sees growing demand for larger council homes

It's common to think that there's a shortage of smaller homes for single people but housing officers are now also facing greater demand for larger homes of which there are far fewer.

Out of 14,000 council homes in the county fewer than 700 have four or more bedrooms.

West Lothian Council headquarters - demand for larger homes is growing

West Lothian has many post war housing estates, which included bigger homes reflecting the demand from larger families in the 1940s but, in general, housing sizes have shrunk in the last 70 years.

At a recent meeting of the council’s Housing Services policy development and scrutiny panel (PDSP), housing needs manager Sarah Kelly told councillors that demand for larger homes was showing as much growth as for two bedroomed homes..

A West Lothian Council spokesperson confirmed this week: “There has been a rise in demand for larger homes in West Lothian in recent years.

“Homeless presentations and applications for housing show that this demand stems from a range of reasons, such as an increased number of families with more than three children, extended families of three generations or more living together, and more blended families with children from previous households.

“Currently only a small percentage of our 14,000 housing stock are larger homes, with 505 four bedroom homes and 155 five bedrooms or more. This means that less than 5% of all our council homes are four bedrooms or more, and are less likely to become available than smaller homes.

“We are also facing increased demand for smaller one and two bedroom and accessible properties, as fewer people with complex needs are in care settings, as well as larger homes across West Lothian, with demand for social housing continuing to far outstrip the supply of homes in West Lothian.

“The council has plans in place to increase our supply of council homes for rent by more than 400 over the next three years, using both new build and open market acquisitions. We will also work with our Registered Social Landlords (RSL) partners, who are also planning to increase the number of homes they have for rent.”