Fife scraps cap on buying back former council houses after dramatic increase in demand

By Claire Warrender

August 27 2022, 6:00am

Housing spokesperson Judy Hamilton says Fife Council is building more houses to help ease the situation. Image: Fife Council.

Fife Council is to buy back as many former council homes as it can in a bid to solve a housing crisis in the region.

More then 900 families, including 400 children, are living in temporary accommodation in Fife.

And the waiting list for houses is sitting at an all time high.

Local authorities can buy back their old stock when it comes on the market but Fife Council had a limit of acquiring just 50 a year, rising to 100 during the Covid pandemic

However, councillors have now agreed to scrap the cap and will spend £13.5 million to ensure more people find a forever home.

The Scottish Government also provides financial help by allocating a subsidy of £40,000 per house.

Head of housing John Mills said: “It’s essential to maximise housing opportunities for homeless people and people who are vulnerable.

“Increasing our housing acquisition is one element of that approach.”

‘Dramatic’ increase in demand for houses

Mr Mills said failure to invest in more properties would result in housing lists continuing to rise until 2025.

And he added: “Demand for homeless accommodation has increased dramatically and the number of households occupying temporary accommodation has grown significantly since 2020.

Fife Council HQ, Fife House in Glenrothes. — The issue was discussed at Fife Council HQ.

“This is in addition to an increasing number of Fife Housing Register
applicants.”

The SNP previously criticised Fife Council for not doing enough to help people in temporary accommodation.

And they called on officers in May to increase the number of buy-backs to address the problem.

While they have welcomed the new policy, agreed by the council’s cabinet committee this week, they said it could have happened a lot sooner.

‘Not good enough’

SNP housing spokesperson Lesley Backhouse said: “We welcome the fact the council administration appears to be finally waking up to the housing crisis we are facing in Fife.

“But it is not good enough that it will have taken 112 days from the election to the council’s first real action.

“If our proposals had been adopted, we would have been months further down the line, with more properties acquired and more families into lifelong homes.”

However, Labour’s housing spokeswoman Judy Hamilton said everything possible was being done.

She said the council had bought 57 homes so far this financial year and added: “We’ll continue to buy housing stock in these difficult times.”