City of Edinburgh Declares Housing Emergency

The City of Edinburgh has declared a housing emergency. There are record homelessness figures along with a severe shortage of social rented homes and spiralling private rental costs. Some also blame rent controls brought in recently that capped rents for six months and then limited annual rises to 3%.

There are multiple causes: A fast-growing population, increasing demand from students, the sale of social housing that has not been properly replaced, landlords selling off properties because of rising mortgage interest rates or choosing to convert into AirBNB lets. And rent freezes are starting to bite.

Close to 5,000 households including many children will need to live in temporary accommodation this Christmas, because of this housing shortage.

Edinburgh has the highest rental inflation rate in the UK at 13.7%.

More background here from the BBC