Specialist team and contractor funding ease some pressure but demand still outstrips supply
West Lothian Council has reported a small increase in the number of council homes re-let in the opening three months of 2026, as a specialist task team and extra contractor funding addressed a backlog of empty properties.
The Housing Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel heard that 140 homes were made available between January and March — up from 129 in the same quarter last year. Officials said the improvement was driven by a dedicated joint action team of housing officers and building services staff set up in late 2024, together with additional recruitment and a £1 million allocation for contractor support to speed repairs.
“This increase in available lets is a result of there being a higher turnover of properties and repairs work being completed in more void properties compared to the same quarter last year.”
Despite the rise, supply remains constrained. The report to the panel showed that during January to March there were 19 communities with no lets recorded, covering 1,186 properties. Over the full 2025/26 year there had been 10 communities with no lets, totalling 345 properties.
Letting activity was concentrated in a small number of areas. The highest shares of total lets were:
- Linlithgow: 18 lets (12.9%)
- Eliburn / Kirkton: 13 lets (9.3%)
- Armadale: 12 lets (8.6%)
Seven communities recorded only a single mainstream property becoming available to let in the quarter: Breich, Bridgend, Howden, Kirknewton, Mid Calder, Pumpherston, Seafield and Uphall Station — emphasising the uneven distribution of supply across the council area.
Profile of properties re-let
The mix of property types and sizes shows the majority of re-lets were smaller homes. The report recorded that most available properties were cottage types, followed by tenements and flats, with a small number of maisonettes and sheltered homes.
| Property type | Lets |
|---|---|
| Cottage | 54 |
| Four-in-a-block | 46 |
| Flats | 26 |
| Maisonettes | 9 |
| Sheltered housing | 5 |
By bedroom numbers, the breakdown was:
| Bedrooms | Lets |
|---|---|
| Two-bedroom | 76 (54%) |
| One-bedroom | 41 (29%) |
| Three-bedroom | 21 (15%) |
| Four-bedroom | 2 (1%) |
| Five-bedroom | 0 |
Sarah Kelly, the council's housing needs manager, provided context for the figures during the panel discussion. The data underline that while progress has been made clearing a backlog of void repairs, the scale of unmet need remains significant and geographically uneven across West Lothian.
For tenants and those on the housing list, the numbers illustrate two persistent challenges: a continued imbalance between demand and available social homes, and concentration of the limited lets in specific communities. The council's strategy of combining an internal rapid-response team with external contractor funding appears to be producing incremental gains, but will need to be sustained if the authority is to make a measurable dent in waiting times and improve choice for applicants.
Panel members were told the work to reduce voids is ongoing and that monitoring will continue as further staff increases and contractor deliveries are brought on stream. Local campaigners and councillors will be watching whether the small rise in lets this quarter can be turned into a lasting upward trend in the months ahead.
