Dundee councillors have called on the SNP administration to reverse its decision not to declare a housing crisis following the Scottish Government’s announcement of a nationwide emergency days later.
A motion to declare a housing emergency, lodged by Labour Group leader Kevin Keenan, in Dundee was rejected by the SNP administration at a full council meeting on Monday.
However mere days later, on Wednesday, the Scottish Government announced a nationwide housing emergency during a Labour-led debate at Holyrood calling for the move.
Now the council’s opposition group leaders have called on the local SNP administration to reverse the decision, which they say has put it “at odds” with its own government.
Labour Group leader Kevin Keenan said: “It shows how out of touch the Dundee SNP administration is that it rejected my motion on Monday night calling for the city to declare a housing emergency – and just two days later its own government accepts that there is a housing emergency right across Scotland.
“Given the housing situation affecting so many Dundonians unable to secure affordable housing, it was astonishing that the SNP group opposed declaring a housing emergency.
“The stupidity of its position is now exposed as its own government declares a nationwide housing emergency.”
Nearly 8000 on the waiting list
Liberal Democrat Group leader Fraser Macpherson added: “There are now nearly 8,000 people in Dundee on the housing waiting list – up over 700 since 2022.
“The housing situation facing so many of our citizens is really concerning and I was honestly astonished at the complacency of the SNP administration in claiming “nothing to see here” by not declaring a housing emergency.”
Both leaders have approached council chiefs to reverse the decision made by the council.
At the same meeting on Monday, councillors approved a £4m scheme which will allow construction services to focus solely on the council’s housing stock for around five months.
It’s hoped the move will tackle the growing backlog of repairs and reduce the number of empty properties in the city to below pre-Covid levels.
Housing emergency just words
Speaking at the meeting, convener of the council’s neighbourhood regeneration, housing and estate management committee Mark Flynn said the plan was the action required to tackle the city’s housing problem.
He said: “I think the waiting list is a bit of a deception in some respects – we have 7,000 on the waiting list but we don’t have 7,000 homeless.
“We have many in homes of that 7,000 and I think they are in relatively good homes, personally. I think declaring a housing emergency is very much just words.
“I’d like to see more action and I think you would agree the plan we have in front of us is action and that’s more important for myself.”
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