Council to put more homeless in private housing

Published on Monday 5 January 2009 08:47

A SCHEME which places the Capital's homeless in private flats and houses is set to be expanded as city leaders struggle to meet demand for affordable housing.

Around 1500 of the city's homeless population have been housed using Private Sector Leasing (PSL) over the past three years.

The initiative works by the city council leasing properties from private owners for up to five years and then letting them, at a subsidised rate, to people who are homeless.

City leaders claim the scheme has proven to be an important first step in getting the homeless into more permanent, unsubsidised, affordable housing.

The slowdown in the construction industry, coupled with a need for some 12,000 affordable homes in Edinburgh, means council chiefs are planning to snap up more private properties to house the homeless.

Council statistics show that 42 per cent of households currently living in PSL homes are working, compared to just 17 per cent of homeless people living in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs.

Moves to expand the PSL scheme will help the city council meet its obligation to provide a home for everyone who is homeless by 2012. A survey carried out by the council claims that around 90 per cent of all landlords and tenants involved in the scheme have had positive experiences.

Housing groups today welcomed moves to expand PSL, but said the longer-term goal must still be more affordable housing.

Councillor Paul Edie, the city's housing leader, said: "It is an essential part of our strategy to help prevent homelessness in the city and other Scottish local authorities are following our lead by setting up similar schemes.

"It is something that has proved to work, for landlords, tenants and neighbours, but it does not distract us from our longer-term goal of building more affordable housing to buy and rent in the city."

The council contributes 2 million a year to putting up homeless people in B&Bs or into privately owned flats because there is not enough homeless accommodation or affordable housing.

The council has plans to build around 6700 new affordable homes over the next five years if it can attract extra funding from the Scottish Government.

The Lib Dem-led administration, like their Labour predecessors, is also still pressing for the Treasury to cancel the city's housing debt. An average of 130 people bid for every council home that becomes available to let and demand for affordable housing is set to grow in the coming years.

David Stewart, policy and strategy manager at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), said: "The SFHA understands why Edinburgh City Council wants to make greater use of the private rented sector in assisting it to boost its homelessness provision.

"However, in our view, the only solution that will work in the long term is to provide more new houses in the affordable rented sector, through construction."