A joint action team of housing officers and building services staff, set up in late 2024, has successfully tackled a backlog of empty council homes in West Lothian. In the first three months of 2026, 140 homes were made available, compared to 129 in the same period last year, a meeting of the Housing Services PDSP heard.
Demand still outstrips supply
Despite the progress, demand remains high. Nineteen of West Lothian’s 47 communities had no homes to let between January and March. The report noted: “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.”
During Quarter 4 of 2025/26, 19 communities recorded no lets, totalling 1,186 properties. Over the whole of 2025/26, 10 communities had no lets, totalling 345 properties. The communities with the highest percentage of lets were Linlithgow (18 lets, 12.9%), Eliburn/Kirkton (13 lets, 9.3%), and Armadale (12 lets, 8.6%). Seven communities had just one mainstream property available: Breich, Bridgend, Howden, Kirknewton, Mid Calder, Pumpherston, Seafield, and Uphall Station.
Property types and sizes
The majority of properties let were cottage types (54), followed by four-in-a-block (46) and flats (26). There were also nine maisonettes and five sheltered housing lets. In terms of size, 54% were two-bedroom (76 lets), 29% one-bedroom (41 lets), 15% three-bedroom (21 lets), and 1% four-bedroom (2 lets). No five-bedroom properties were let in the quarter.
Sarah Kelly, Housing Needs Manager, said: “The 140 properties let in Quarter 4 were allocated in accordance with the council’s Allocations Policy.” Of the 140 homes, 81 were let to homeless people, 29 to those with general needs, and 28 were transfers.
