THE number of new affordable homes needed to meet demand in the Wee County by 2021 has more than halved, a report has revealed.

A total of 1695 social and private rented homes will be required over the next seven years – a fall of more than 3000 properties from the previous estimate (4770).

The dramatic drop is down to a change in the formula used to calculate housing need by the Scottish Government.

Clackmannanshire councillors noted the new figures, which form part of the local authority’s Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA), at Thursday’s Housing, Health and Social Care Committee meeting.

Author of the report, Kenny Hutton, the regeneration service manager, wrote, “Demand is now assessed at 1695 units (required by 2021). This is a reduction of over 3000 units from the current HNDA which projected demand for 4,770 affordable properties to 2020.

“Whilst this is still a sizeable number and greater than the projected available funding for new affordable housing, it does support the anecdotal evidence reported by officers of demand softening for certain house types and locations, making some properties harder to let.

“Proposed new build and refurbishment programmes will need to carefully consider such factors, rather than being solely driven by the projected demand.” An HNDA is required by local authorities every five years with the last one approved in 2010.

The report revealed that county households are getting poorer. Unemployment rose from 6 per cent in 2004 to 9.5 per cent in 2013 and the average household income dropped from £32,472 in 2008 to £28,068 in 2014.

Officers found that more than half (59 per cent) of all council and housing association tenants are claiming housing benefit, while 110 social housing applicants, 6.8 per cent of the waiting list, have ‘over- crowding points’.

Demand for one-bedroom council properties remains high with 558 people on the housing list for one-bedroom homes but only 130–160 available to let each year. The report also notes that between 36 per cent and 47 per cent of all council lets go to homeless applicants, the majority of which are single households.

As part of the HNDA, a six-week consultation with stakeholders, such as tenants, housing developers and landlords, will begin at the end of this month.