Why we are engaging with City of Edinburgh Council (City of Edinburgh)
We are engaging with City of Edinburgh about its services for people who are homeless, its site(s) for Gypsy/Travellers, stock quality and tenant and resident safety.
The context in which local authorities are delivering services to people who are experiencing homelessness has become increasingly challenging in the last few years. In our December 2023 update to our thematic report on homelessness services in Scotland we set out that there is systemic failure in the delivery of some local authorities’ services to people experiencing homelessness. By this we mean that the demands on some local authorities now exceed their capacity to respond. This is the case at City of Edinburgh. We will continue to monitor, assess and report on City of Edinburgh’s performance in discharging its duties to people who are homeless, and we will engage with the local authority to promote improvement where this is possible.
We are ready to work with the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh itself and other stakeholders to identify and implement actions that will address the systemic issues affecting the delivery of homelessness services at City of Edinburgh.
During 2024/25, we reviewed and compared the data for all local authorities from the Scottish Government’s national homelessness statistics. We also spoke to all local authorities to gather further information and assurance about their homelessness services. To assess the risks to people who are threatened with or experiencing homelessness we will engage with all local authorities during 2025/26 with a focus on the provision of appropriate temporary accommodation.
We will engage with City of Edinburgh in particular about its provision of temporary accommodation to people who are homeless.
All social landlords who provide Gypsy/Travellers sites must ensure their site(s) meet the Scottish Government’s Minimum Site Standards and all standards and outcomes in the Scottish Social Housing Charter. To gather further information and assurance, we will speak to all site providers during 2025/26 to discuss the management of their site(s).
City of Edinburgh has identified reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in some of its homes, and City of Edinburgh told us it has a plan in place to manage any associated risks. We are seeking assurance that City of Edinburgh is progressing with this plan and that it has a plan to complete any remedial work that is required.
A significant number of City of Edinburgh’s tenants’ homes do not fully comply with electrical safety requirements and a small number do not comply with fire detection requirements; both of which came into force in early 2022 and form part of the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. City of Edinburgh is progressing inspections to provide Electrical Installation Condition Reports and to install integrated smoke and heat alarms in all of its tenants’ homes.
We are engaging with City of Edinburgh to monitor its progress in completing this outstanding work as quickly as possible and maintaining future compliance.
City of Edinburgh is regularly non-compliant with its gas safety duties across a small number of tenants’ homes. In December 2024, we asked City of Edinburgh to develop a plan which sets out how it will ensure compliance with its gas safety duties. We are engaging with City of Edinburgh to seek assurance that it completes the plan and that it is carrying out its gas safety checks within the statutory timescale.
In July 2022, we contacted City of Edinburgh following media reports of dampness and mould in some of its high-rise blocks. City of Edinburgh shared an improvement plan that it had developed following a recent review of its approach to managing reports of dampness and mould across the city.
Since then, City of Edinburgh has refined its improvement plan to align with good practice guidance and has completed most of the actions within it. This has included developing a new process for investigating and addressing reports of dampness and mould and recruiting additional resources to deliver this.
We will continue to engage with City of Edinburgh to seek assurance that cases of dampness and mould are resolved timeously and effectively.
What City of Edinburgh must do
City of Edinburgh must:
- send us the information we require in relation to its homelessness service;
- continue best efforts to meet its statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation when it should and to comply with the Unsuitable Accommodation Order;
- keep us updated on its capacity to meet its statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation when it should and to comply with the Unsuitable Accommodation Order;
- send us the information we require in relation to the management of its Gypsy/Traveller site(s);
- keep us updated on how it is managing the risks associated with RAAC and its plans to complete any remedial work required;
- complete the outstanding electrical and fire safety work as quickly as possible;
- by 30 April 2025, send us a plan for how it will complete the outstanding electrical and fire safety work, including timescales, and how it will maintain future compliance;
- send us monthly updates on progress on achieving compliance with electrical safety and fire detection requirements;
- comply with its statutory gas safety duties, and send us monthly updates on progress with its plan to comply with these duties; and
- provide us with assurance that it is resolving any reported cases of dampness and mould timeously and effectively.
What we will do
We will:
- review the information City of Edinburgh provides about its homelessness service and engage as necessary;
- meet with City of Edinburgh on a monthly basis to discuss its homelessness service and engage as necessary;
- meet with City of Edinburgh to seek assurance about its best efforts to provide suitable temporary accommodation;
- meet with City of Edinburgh to discuss the management of its Gypsy/Traveller site(s);
- review the updates City of Edinburgh provides about RAAC in its homes and engage as necessary;
- review City of Edinburgh’s progress with its plan to achieve and maintain compliance with electrical safety and fire detection requirements and engage as necessary;
- monitor City of Edinburgh’s progress with its plan to comply with its gas safety duties and engage as necessary;
- meet with City of Edinburgh on a monthly basis to seek assurance it is dealing effectively with dampness and mould in its homes; and
- update our published engagement plan in the light of any material change to our planned engagement with City of Edinburgh.
Regulatory Returns
City of Edinburgh must provide us with the following annual regulatory returns:
- Annual Assurance Statement; and
- Annual Return on the Charter.
It should also notify us of any material changes to its Annual Assurance Statement, and any tenant and resident safety matter which has been reported to or is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive or reports from regulatory or statutory authorities or insurance providers, relating to safety concerns.