Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2024
Circumstances have changed, with 10 local authorities covering nearly half the population either at or close to crisis point. Close to 10,000 children are stuck in the misery of temporary accommodation, with no safe home to grow up in. Declaring a housing emergency must lead to collective action and shared responsibility to tackle the crisis using all the means that are at our disposal.
Local authorities across the country are taking bold steps to respond to the housing emergency. In my region, Argyll and Bute Council is addressing the emergency through a collective commitment with partners, stakeholders, investors and communities to tackle housing shortages. The council has produced a robust housing plan through partnership working and is using all the tools that are available to it. It has doubled council tax on holiday homes and has introduced short-term let zones; it is rolling out housing in the Dunbeg corridor, with 300 houses nearing completion and more to follow; it has two empty homes officers and has used the devolution of empty property relief to incentivise property owners to get properties back in use in under a year; and it is supporting community-led housing on several islands and has enabled the use of rural housing burdens.
Despite that, a constituent told me recently that they would become homeless as no rental properties were available for them in their home of Tiree.