Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Concern raised over lack of affordable homes in Dundee as social housing tenancies drop

Dundee's Derby Street multis were demolished in 2013 to make way for new more affordable housing
Dundee's Derby Street multis were demolished in 2013 to make way for new more affordable housing

Concern has been raised over a steady decrease in the amount of social and affordable housing available in Dundee.

The number of tenancies for social housing — which is owned by both councils and housing associations — has dropped by 637 in the last two years in Dundee, from 14,326 in 2014/15 to 13,689 in 2016/17.

The figures, released through Freedom of Information legislation, show, despite the council building hundreds of new affordable homes in areas such as Mill O’ Mains, Whitfield, Lochee and Hilltown, the number of tenancies are still decreasing.

The council said it has a long-term plan in place to provide more homes and is committed to building 1000 new properties.

The local authority has been criticised in the past for its pace in addressing housing shortages, with Bruce Forbes, director of Angus Housing Association (AHA), describing progress as “painfully slow”.

North East region Scottish Conservative MSP Bill Bowman, claims the council could do more to attract greater investment in areas such as the city’s vast brownfield sites.

He said: “Dundee has substantial brownfield in the city limits which would go some way to providing citizens with affordable, quality housing.

“But the SNP-run council must do more to attract the investment which will build these homes. This will stimulate the number of rental properties available, and drive rents down.

“It would also allow more young people to save up for a deposit towards getting on the property ladder.”

As part of its Strategic Housing Investment Plan, Dundee City Council has established there is enough available land for up to 6650 homes to be built in the city in the next five to 30 years.

Lochee and Maryfield have the greatest space for development, with each containing enough land for at least 1000 homes.

The council’s neighbourhood services convener Kevin Cordell said it was working on a plan to address the type of housing needed.

He said: “We recognise the need for new affordable housing, that’s why we have committed to building 1000 affordable new homes.

“In Mill O’ Mains, Whitfield, Lochee and Hilltown, we have already built more than 200 new affordable homes.

“We have another 380 homes in the pipeline, with 163 planned for Derby Street.

“Through the Dundee Strategic Housing Investment Plan, we are getting to grips with the problem of supply and demand by rebalancing the amount and type of housing on offer to the people of Dundee.”