Falkirk Council blasted for 'unfair' housing allocation process

Residents in the Braes area of Falkirk claim the local authority’s housing allocation process needs a major “rethink” and say the system is “unfair”.
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The Braes catchment area reportedly has 1575 Falkirk Council properties, of which 296 are within Slamannan.

Following approval of the council’s housing allocation policy last month – and in a drive to eradicate homelessness – there was an increase in the lettings quota which saw 45 per cent go to home seekers, 27.5 per cent to home movers and 27.5 per cent to home starters.

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However, householders in the area say they want the housing allocation process to be reviewed so it will be fair for everyone bidding for properties.They say the process and allocation of properties does not make any sense, with single people living in two and three bedroom properties, while large families are having to live in one or two bedroom properties.

Residents in the Braes area of Falkirk are complaining about Falkirk Council's housing allocation system, claiming it is "unfair"Residents in the Braes area of Falkirk are complaining about Falkirk Council's housing allocation system, claiming it is "unfair"
Residents in the Braes area of Falkirk are complaining about Falkirk Council's housing allocation system, claiming it is "unfair"

According to householders – who have been bidding on a high number of properties and getting nowhere – Slamannan alone has a number of properties allocated to tenants who do not actually live in them.

One residendent said: “The council does investigate these cases, however, any response that is received back simply states it is a ‘complicated case’. We know of a residence which has stood for two years without the allocated tenant moving into the property.

The tenant's parents check once per month for mail for them and now an adjoining property now has a mice infestation coming from that vacant property, due to no heating being on for a period of time.”Another resident stated there is currently a situation where a tenant has moved repeatedly from council properties to private properties in another council area, all the while supposedly keeping a council property in Slamannan.

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According to local people, the council property in question now appears to be sublet, while the rightful tenant is actually living in another country.

Residents claim there are people moving to the village who are not able to afford the heating costs and are looking to move out, after only a matter of months.

One householder said: “There’s a single parent with one child, living in homeless accommodation who has been offered a three bedroom house, but told the council he could not afford to live there.

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"The housing officer then informed him he had to take the property or would lose his priority status. This is a property where other residents could place an eligible bid.”

A Falkirk Council spokesman said: “We have already approved a new allocations policy in October this year following tenant consultation. We promote properties via our website and that contains all the relevant information for anyone prior to making an application.

“We monitor abandonments on a two-weekly basis across all areas and where we identify potential abandonment or subletting practice, we take rigorous action in line with our procedures.

“Falkirk Council has a household-size criteria and to be eligible to bid on three-bedroom properties an applicant must have children with at least one over the age of eight to qualify, in line with our allocations policy.

“From January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020 there was a total of 138 properties that went through our process within the Braes catchment area.”