FIFE COUNCIL has approved plans to increase the purchases of ex-council houses to help tackle homelessness.

The local authority experienced a 70 per cent fall in terminations of tenancies since the beginning of lockdown, and they hope that acquiring additional houses will increase the number they can let to people in need.

At a meeting of its policy and co-ordination committee last week, the council increased its commitment from 50 to 100 additional houses acquired by the end of March 2021.

The property acquisition is not part of the council’s affordable housing programme.

Instead, it is an additional element to meet specific needs of tenants.

The project will cost a net total of £3 million and each house will be acquired at an average of £100,000.

Individual properties will attract a £40,000 subsidy from the Scottish Government, leaving a net cost for the council of £60,000 for each.

John Mills, head of Fife housing services, said: “What we need is an increase in the number of empty houses to let to people in need.

“The Housing Access Recovery Plan, which was just approved in September, is based on a transfer-led approach to all empty vacancies that come our way.

“Through that mechanism we can create additional opportunities for tenants in poor housing circumstances to move but also create chains of allocations, subsequent vacancies we can let more to homeless people and to those on the housing list.

“In this addition of enhanced numbers, we will promote additional opportunities for our tenants, firstly, to move and for the housing access officers thereafter to create chains of allocations to help many more households.”

At the meeting, Coucnillor Neil Crooks said: “I’m really happy to see the increase in the numbers. We’ve got so many families out there that are desperate to get better accommodation that would be suiting their needs and this is going to achieve that.

“Most of the properties being acquired by the council are bigger family properties, with three, four or five bedrooms, and that’s the right thing to do.

“We know the needs are really quite high and this proposal shows we can do more rather than continue at the same level, as the housing need is massive in Fife.”