East Lothian Courier | News | Housing policy defended

Thursday, 20th November, 2008

Published: Thursday, 6th March, 2008 10:00

Housing policy defended

COUNCIL chiefs have launched a robust defence of the authority’s housing allocation policy, amid claims from would-be tenants in North Berwick that “undesirables” are getting preferential treatment.

The Courier has learnt that there are 1,168 people on the official waiting list for just 283 council-owned properties in the town.

Some applicants, who have been on the waiting list for a number of years, are far from happy at a change in the housing allocations policy.

Under the old policy, people on the waiting list could accumulate points based on the length of time they had been registered. Now the list favours applicants deemed to have the greatest need.

Some North Berwick applicants, who have been shunted down the list as a result of the policy change, are clearly close to breaking point.

One woman, who did not want to be identified, hit out at the “dire” state of council housing in the town.

She said: “I have been on the waiting list for four years and even though my partner and I have lived in North Berwick all our lives, it is nigh on impossible to be allocated a council house in the town we grew up in.

“This is because of problematic incomers being given a house basically to try and sort out the problem areas they’re coming from, when in reality it’s simply spreading the problem over a wider area and bringing respectable places like North Berwick and Gullane down.

“Both my partner and myself work honest, full-time jobs – which seems to me to be a negative in the eyes of the council while looking for a council house. My calls to my local councillor’s office go unanswered and I’m being ignored.”

Another disgruntled applicant told the Courier: “It is scandalous that decent law-abiding tax payers are treated this way, when the council appears to be rolling out the welcome mat for undesirables.”

But Councillor Stuart Currie, the administration’s housing and community services spokesman, said: “The changes made to the housing allocations policy recognise that we must put our customers’ needs first when allocating houses.

“East Lothian has a limited number of properties available, which is why it is important that these are given to people with the greatest need. Our consultation process, which involved tenants, applicants and the East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel, has helped to shape this policy.”

A council spokeswoman added: “The comments made about so-called undesirables are a slur on the thousands of decent and hardworking council tenants throughout East Lothian.”

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