West Lothian records lowest number of empty council homes in years

The council has 251 mainstream properties without a tenant. That equates to 1.7 per cent of the council stock. In November 2023 more than 500 were empty – or voids.

Executive councillor for housing George Paul said bringing down the number of empty homes was a “key priority”.

The news comes as a national survey shows the average waiting time on the 11,000 strong housing list is 2.6 years in West Lothian – better than most neighbouring councils. In Edinburgh it is 3.8; South Lanarkshire 3.9 and East Lothian 3.6.

Only Falkirk on 2.2 years and North Lanarkshire on 1.1 are lower than West Lothian.

Executive councillor for housing George Paul said bringing down the number of empty homes was a “key priority”

Every councillor has faced questions on voids and the subject has dominated local area committees for several years.

The number of re-lets after focused work to bring down the numbers of voids was 1167, an increase of 111 compared to the same period last year.

The council’s building services department has faced a growing list of problems, not least the growth of Category C homes, abandoned by tenants who have damaged the property.

All council homes that are returned to the council are classified as being ‘void’ and all are in need of some degree of repair.

This can range from a simple electrical safety test to a complete refurbishment, including new kitchens, bathrooms, central heating, electrical and plumbing.

The condition of void properties determines how quickly the council can have them available to re-let. Some homes take longer to repair and re-let, if there are significant repairs required, issues relating to utility companies, a requirement to engage with contractors to complete repairs or difficulty in sourcing materials.

Homes returned to the council in an extremely poor state are deemed ‘C’ class, requiring a significant level of repair which is often complex and time consuming.

As we recently revealed, the number of homes in ‘C’ Class has nearly doubled since 2020/21.

Where significant repairs are required, these homes can be out of action for a prolonged period of time. It can cost around £10,000 a house to bring such homes back to a lettable standard.

Councillor Paul said: “This is a key priority for the council. A significant amount of effort and resources have been deployed to ensure that we reduce the number of empty (void) properties.

“West Lothian Council has repaired and brought over 1,300 council properties up to lettable standard since April 2024, 251 more than this time last year and we have had 1,144 properties returned to the council as tenancies ended.”

Even when homes are ready for a new tenant, the majority of first offers are turned down by the next person on the waiting list.

When someone turns down the offer of a home, the house is offered to the next person on the waiting list until someone agrees and signs a tenancy agreement. However, it does mean that there will never be 0 per cent of void homes.