Contractors have been brought in, more staff hired and a dedicated team have worked to tackle void times in between lets.
More than £1m has been invested in West Lothian in a drive to cut the length of time council houses are left empty between tenants.
Contractors have been brought in, more staff hired and a dedicated team have worked to tackle void times in between lets.
IT has seen an eight day reduction in the turnaround time and more than 1,300 homes with repairs completed in the last year- and more than a thousand homes let.
In a report to the council’s Housing services committee officer pointed to successes since the formation of an interdepartmental voids team to tackle a huge backlog of repairs.
Problems facing the council had been exacerbated by the poor condition of the majority of homes returned as voids- many needing major refit .
The council decided in its annual budget to set aside £1.2 m for contractors to help council staff complete housing improvements.
The current re-letting performance for 2026/27 (April & May) is 64.57 days, a further reduction of 6 days from 2025/26.
The service has rented 10% more properties in the first two months of 26/27 than the same period last year.
The void team brings officers from building services and housing under one roof for joint working to reduce delays in getting homes back out to tenants.
A new agreement between the Council and Scottish Gas provides utility support throughout the time homes are empty.
A total of 1,022 homes were let in the last year. Whitburn and Blackburn saw the most homes, with 90 mainstream tenancies and 145 temporary tenancies agreed.
In Livingston 183 homes were let across the two council wards; in Bathgate 150, Armadale 128 and Broxburn 105.
Other wards saw Breich Valley 136; East Livingston and East Calder 46 and Linlithgow 39.
A report to the committee said the council planned to “reduce the overall number of void properties within the service through a consistent approach to management.”
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