Shelter Scotland welcomes Dundee housing emergency declaration

Shelter Scotland has today welcomed Dundee City Council’s declaration of a housing emergency.

There was cross party support for a declaration during the council meeting on Monday evening (2 March), with a motion to declare being passed.

The Dundee Housing Emergency Coalition, made up of more than 30 frontline organisations, led the campaign for Dundee to declare a housing emergency; pointing to the fact that Dundee's housing system is no longer working, with more households placed in unsuitable accommodation and many trapped in unaffordable and unsecure housing.

Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said:

“Finally, Dundee voices are being heard. By voting to declare a housing emergency, Dundee City Council is sending Westminster and Holyrood a message loud and clear – end Dundee’s housing emergency now.

“Without long-term investment in social housing, new funding for council services from Holyrood, and changes to housing benefit from Westminster, Dundee’s housing emergency will only continue to get worse. Over 30 frontline organisations were involved in producing a housing emergency action plan that sets out how we can tackle the housing emergency.

“Step one in that plan was for Dundee City Councillors to declare a housing emergency and commit to work alongside the coalition. Today they did that. The city’s councillors have stepped up to lead that fight for change. This is just the start of the journey.

“While the motion does not include a commitment to a local action plan, we welcome the intention to work with the community and look forward to hearing more detail about how this will work. We extend the invitation to the council leadership to the next meeting of the Coalition to discuss how the community can play its part in what happens next.

“We look forward to working alongside the council to end the scourge of homelessness and fix the broken and biased housing system across Dundee.”

Dundee Civic Trust Chairperson, Donald Gordon said:

"Dundee Civic Trust are delighted that Councillors have taken the vital step of declaring a housing emergency.

“We welcome the council's intention to work with all those with a shared interest in ending it, and the Dundee Housing Emergency Coalition, as a whole, stands ready to work collaboratively to deliver the urgent and sustained action that is now required."

Transform Community Development Chief Executive, Bryan Smith said:

"Yesterday's decision to declare a housing emergency in Dundee is a welcomed step toward confronting the scale of the crisis facing our city.

"The Housing Emergency Action Plan, developed collectively by more than thirty organisations through the Dundee Housing Emergency Coalition, shows that Dundee is not short of solutions and yesterday’s commitment signals that the Council recognises both the urgency and the opportunity to act.

"We hope that declaration is not symbolic. It is a promise to the people of Dundee that their voices, experiences, and struggles have been heard. Now, we all begin the work of delivering the investment, collaboration, and systemic change needed to ensure everyone in our city has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home."