West Dunbartonshire families face 30 year long housing list

Amid a national housing crisis, high demand for social housing, long waiting lists and sustained pressure on temporary accommodation many are left waiting years to gain a property.

In October last year it was revealed more than 5500 people are currently on the waiting list in the authority for social housing.

The Clydebank Post has investigated the situation within local housing associations to assess what the waiting lists really look like.

We asked a number of housing associations in the city how many homes of three or more bedrooms they have and how many people are waiting to be rehoused to one of that size.

The results were startling.

Trafalgar Housing Association, West Dunbartonshire's smallest public sector landlord, has just over 300 properties in it's stock. 113 of these are have three or more bedrooms.

However, in the last five years, only 18 families have been allocated one of these homes.

With a current waiting list of 113, it would take roughly 30 years to house each one of these families.

Bosses at the organisation say they are part of a common allocation group with the council so their waiting lists are much longer because of that.

Knowes Housing Association manages 1055 properties, of which 415 have three or more bedrooms.

Since April 2016, 243 families have been allocated one of these homes meaning it would take 34 years to clear their waiting list.

A spokesperson for the association says they are only able to re-let homes that become available when a tenant ends their tenancy. It takes them 5.9 days from a property becoming void to being allocated to someone on the housing list.

They said: "Housing professionals across Scotland and the UK recognise there is a significant shortage of available housing, with demand far outweighing supply. 

"The largest challenge in increasing supply through new development is the substantial rise in construction costs over the past 3-4 years.

"In addition, delays and complexities within local planning processes have slowed progress on new-build opportunities that would otherwise help reduce waiting times."

Caledonia Housing Association owns 469 homes with three or more bedrooms and has allocated 328 in the last 10 years.

This would mean it would take around eight years to allocated every families a home.

The organisation says that demand outstrips supply and is causing long waiting times for residents.

A spokesperson for Caledonia Housing Association said: “We work closely with West Dunbartonshire Council through a nominations agreement, with the majority of our allocations made in partnership with the local authority to support those in greatest housing need.

“Like all social landlords, we are concerned by the impact of the national housing emergency on families waiting for suitable homes. Despite a challenging operating environment, Caledonia continues to invest in new affordable housing and regeneration projects in West Dunbartonshire and across our operating areas.

"This includes the multi-phase Bellsmyre regeneration in Dumbarton, which is replacing older flats with modern, energy-efficient family homes as part of a long-term commitment to increasing housing supply and improving communities.”

Dalmuir Park Housing Association owns the least amount of three bedroom or more homes with 76.

Having housed 28 in the last 10 years and with 61 families on the waiting list it could take up to 22 years to clear the list.

In 2025/26 they are planning to purchase six properties.

A spokesperson for Dalmuir Park said: "We are being asked to continually prioritise our lets for homeless households – the quota for our lets to homeless households is currently 59% of lets. 

"We have been working with our partner landlords to create a common housing application form with the intention to maximise an applicant’s housing option by applying to multiple landlords with one form.

"The length of time an applicant needs to wait for rehousing is dependent on many factors not all of which the association has control over.

"We can only re-house a small percentage of applicants due to the relatively low turnover of our stock, but what we can and will do is ensure that all applicants receive the best housing options advice we can provide based on their current circumstances."