You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Scottish council’s housing services out of regulatory scrutiny after six years
The Scottish Housing Regulator has removed a council from scrutiny for the first time in six years after it recorded improved performances in its housing and homelessness services.
The regulator began scrutiny of West Dunbartonshire Council’s housing service in 2012 after it found that only 36% of stock met the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. The regulator also highlighted risks in the council’s asset management plan.
A report the following year found that the council had made progress but concluded that “there was a large amount of investment work to complete in a short period of time” if it was to achieve its improvement targets.
Regulatory scrutiny has continued until this year in the west Scotland council but will not stop, with the regulator describing it as being “self-aware” after a report outlined a number of improvements in performance.
Among those was a 95% tenant satisfaction score for those moving in to new homes, while 86% said they were satisfied with existing homes.
Exactly 75% of tenants said they felt their property represented good value for money, with 84% declaring themselves satisfied with overall service provision.
Homelessness services also improved – officers managed to offer temporary accommodation to 100% of households requiring it, according to the council, while the number of homelessness incidences in the council to the west of Glasgow fell from 1,135 to 1,048.
READ MORE
Diane Docherty, convener of housing and communities at West Dunbartonshire Council, said: “As a council, we are committed to improving the lives of residents across West Dunbartonshire.
“Working hard to deliver a service our tenants are happy with is a vital part of this, and it’s heartening to see these continued improvements.
“The decision from the SHR [Scottish Housing Regulator] – which means no scrutiny for WDC [West Dunbartonshire Council] for the first time in six years – is extremely positive and reflects the improvements across housing and homelessness services within that period.”
