This section covers housing options, access to social housing, tenancy sustainment and homeless people.
Local authority landlords have the authority to issue a section 5 referral to Registered Social Landlord under Section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. Once the Section 5 is issued the Registered Social Landlord (RSL) have up to six weeks to provide housing to applicants assessed as statutorily homeless.
The number and percentage of homeless households referred to RSLs under section 5 and other referral routes
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Scottish LA Average | |
| Number referred to RSLs under section 5 | 35 | 28 | 22 | - |
| Number referred through other routes | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Total number of homeless households that we had a statutory duty to secure permanent accommodation | 438 | 439 | 463 | - |
| Percentage of homeless households referred to RSLs under Section 5 and other referral routes | 7.99% | 6.38% | 4.75% | 29.6% |
We continue to work with our RSL colleagues to meet the needs of, and to house homeless applicants in Clackmannanshire. 2024/25 reporting period saw a continuous reduction in the number of referrals made to Registered Social Landlords as RSLs have continued to allocate to homeless applicants from their own waiting list.
Over the last year we let a total of 358 properties, 72 of these went to applicants from our housing waiting list, 237 to homeless applicants, 49 to existing tenants. A total of 37 tenants swapped homes using the mutual exchange scheme.
In 2024/25, the number of homeless applicants continued to be high. We continue on letting a larger number of voids to this applicant group in order to free up temporary accommodation for new homeless presentations.
Number and percentage of Lettable Houses that became vacant during the year
| Year | Number | Percentage |
| 2022/23 | 389 | 8.02% |
| 2023/24 | 342 | 7.01% |
| 2024/25 | 317 | 6.47% |
| Scottish LA Average | 7.2% |
2024/25 reporting period saw a further decrease in the number of properties becoming vacant throughout the year.
Average calendar days taken to re-let properties
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Scottish LA Average |
| 47.04 | 64.86 | 57.64 | 78.1 |
We are pleased to report a positive improvement in our end-to-end void turnaround time, with an average reduction of one week compared to the previous year. This progress reflects our ongoing commitment to minimising delays and returning homes to applicants as quickly as possible. While some longer-standing void properties (those awaiting refurbishment) have now been processed and re-let, which may have influenced the overall average, the reduction still marks a significant step forward. We continue to aim for the shortest possible turnaround times, and this improvement demonstrates encouraging momentum in that direction.
| % of new tenancies sustained for more than a year | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Scottish LA Average |
| Existing tenants | 97.62% | 95.08% | 97.96% | 94.6% |
| Homeless applicants | 87.50% | 89.95% | 88.91% | 89.8% |
| Housing list applicants | 91.49% | 94.29% | 100% | 91.8% |
| Others | 100% | 0% | 0% | 90.1% |
| All | 89.80% | 91.45% | 91.90% | 91.3% |
Our overall sustainment figure has seen a continuous improvement from the last 2 years and is now slightly higher than the Scottish Local Authority average. The improvement in figures can be attributed to the efforts of our Housing Officers and the Housing Support team to ensure that tenants who have additional support needs are provided with tailored support to help them sustain their tenancies.
| Home Adaptations | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Scottish LA Average |
| Number of households currently waiting for adaptations to their home | 96 | 67 | 48 | 2019 |
| Total cost of adaptations completed in the year | £256,189 | £813,873 | £548,030 | £22.1m |
| Total number of adaptations completed during the reporting year. | 245 | 297 | 308 | - |
| The average working days to complete adaptations | 74.11 | 164.27 | 58.72 | 36.1 |
We have successfully managed to reduce the number of households waiting for adaptations and have completed a larger number of adaptions from the previous reporting year. With help from an external contractor to clear a backlog in the previous year we have managed to significantly decreasing the average working days to complete adaptations.
Homeless applications have seen a continuous rise since 2020/21 with 647 homeless applications received during the 2024/25 reporting year. This represents a 5% increase from the previous year.
Housing
Kilncraigs, Greenside Street, Alloa, FK10 1EB
Tel: 01259 450000
Email: housing@clacks.gov.uk