Scottish councils have decade-long waiting lists for social homes

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry has urged the SNP Government to take swift action to tackle Scotland’s housing emergency after new research by his party revealed that people are waiting longer than ten years for social housing in local authorities across the country.

Twelve of Scotland’s councils responded to a Liberal Democrat freedom of information request on the longest waits for social housing. All twelve of those councils reported someone waiting over a decade on their social housing list as it currently stands.

Seventeen local authorities responded to the party’s request for the number of people on social housing waiting lists. Data from those councils show that this number has jumped   by 4% over the last six years, from 107,765 in 2018/19 to 120,530  in 2023/24.  

The largest increase in the number of people on social housing waiting lists was in Orkney, where it rose from 694 in 2018/19 to 1551 in the last financial year.

Over the same period, Midlothian also saw its waiting list number shoot up by 77%, while West Lothian has experienced an increase of 42%.

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry said:

“Under this SNP government, people are waiting unacceptably long to find a home they can call their own.

“In Scotland, affordable housebuilding has collapsed and the cost-of-living crisis has meant that rents and mortgages are becoming extremely difficult for many to afford. The SNP has made that situation even tougher by making devstating cuts to the housing budget.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats would tackle these failures head-on. We need to see a new National Housing Plan for Scotland that can stand up to the housing crisis and get more homes built. That’s why we would increase the number of new homes to 380,000 a year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes a year, working in partnership with the Scottish Government and through meaningful community engagement to achieve this.”

Additional Information:

The Liberal Democrat FOI data on social housing waiting lists in Scotland can be found here