Housing Crisis: Direct action (urgently) needed

Bailey-Lee Robb, Councillor, Fife Council

Upon being elected to local government in May 2022, I was regularly advised by my now-colleagues that housing will almost certainly make up the majority of my casework – and they weren’t wrong. Since being elected, I have found myself being regularly stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to housing cases.

When I am regularly faced with constituents who are in desperate need of housing, and have been waiting on ‘lists’ for five, sometimes ten years plus, I am left feeling deflated and unable to help. I do not have any new advice or support that I can provide them that their other elected representatives and their respective offices haven’t already given them. I cannot seek to highlight their case with council officers, but merely ask for an update on where they sit within these lists. 

The truth is that for the overwhelming majority of individuals and families that find themselves on these social housing lists, is that they will almost never receive an offer of housing. The reason being is that there simply is not enough social housing available within this country as it stands, for a variety of different political reasons, not least the decision to flog off ex-council houses on the cheap.

Despite local government and housing associations here in Scotland ramping up their building efforts, they are not building near enough year on year, and they are not completing them quickly enough. This is in spite of central government support for each new build that is completed, and is thanks, in part, to the levels of inflation we find ourselves dealing with.

However, it does not matter how many homes are built each year, demand will consistently outstrip supply. The UK Government must wake up to this, and provide the political leadership that has been missing for so long.

We need major reform of social housing by central government, backed by major infrastructure capital investment and the political drive to spur it on. This should be our single focus as a country over the next few years as we seek to truly rebuild after the COVID pandemic. This would not only allow us to scale up house building across the country, but also the infrastructure that our communities require alongside these estates.

This investment in infrastructure is essential as too often, new housing sites are being vehemently opposed by local communities due to the weakening amenities they find themselves with; roads, schools, GP practices; pharmacies, and much more. These objections from the community are often ignored as part of the planning process, causing rifts before a spade is even in the ground, creating an ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ mentality for when families do move in.

However, we all agree that the housing crisis is exactly that – a crisis. We have 70% of our homes provided to those who identify as homeless here in Fife. Many constituents advise me that they have no other option but to present as homeless to get a property. Is this really how the system should be working? Is the system really that broken that individuals must now be homeless to be housed?

It is time for our political leaders to stand up, introduce major reform, stump up the cash, and get on with delivery. This is truly how the government can deliver on its levelling up agenda; by ensuring families have a warm, safe home to return to each night.