Average time taken to re-let council houses rises

30 May 2025 13:19

THE NUMBER of council house applications in Shetland has decreased over recent years – but the average length of time to re-let properties has gone up.

Figures presented to a meeting of Shetland Islands Council’s development committee on Wednesday showed there were 591 housing applications as of 31 March – although one in five of these were “suspended” due to eligibility reasons.

For the previous year the overall figure was 655, and 705 in 2022/23.

However in 2024/25 the average length of time taken to re-let properties was 96 days – up from 74 the year before, and 88 in 2022/23.

Housing management and support team leader George Martin said there were a number of factors behind this, including availability of outside contractors, long-term void properties skewing the overall figure and the condition of homes when they are returned to the SIC.

“The void conditions that we are seeing are increasingly requiring more work to our properties when they do come back,” he said.

“Cost of living crisis, energy costs – all those things that are preventing people from maybe investing in heating their properties in the way they would have historically, impacts on the fabric of the property.”

Martin told councillors that there is also a “real focus” on temporary accommodation and the work done on the prevention of homelessness.

An increasing focus on planned maintenance also impacts the council’s ability to carry out responsive work “as quickly as we might have wanted to”, he added.

Martin reiterated that delays can happen outside of the SIC’s control, adding: “We are very often reliant on contractor input from outwith our own service, and that can cause significant delays.”

A total of 133 council homes were let in 2024/25, an increase on 109 from the previous year.

Of the 133 lets, 67 were from the waiting list, 36 were from homeless applications, 25 were transfers and five were described as “other”.

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There were 58 lets in 2024/25 in Lerwick and Bressay, 26 in the the isles (Yell, Fetlar, Unst, Whalsay and Skerries) and a further 26 in the north of Shetland.

There were nine lets in the central area, and seven each in the south and west areas.

The highest demand in each area is for one bed homes, although some councillors at Wednesday’s meeting spoke up for having more family-sized properties.

During 2024/2025, there were also 34 successful nominations to Hjaltland Housing Association.