| Three of Dundee’s senior nationalist politicians visited the Whitfield home of Michelle Thomson to see how the issue affects families first-hand — and left demanding the Scottish Executive write off Dundee City Council’s £120 million housing debt to help solve the problem.
Ms Thomson has to share her small Carberry Crescent home with her partner, 13 week-old baby, 20 year-old daughter and teenage son.
The Thomsons have no room in their bedroom for the baby’s cot and are considering moving with the baby to sleep in the kitchen.
Dundee East MSP Shona Robison visited the family and said rising property prices excluded many people from buying a suitable house.
“We are with Michelle and her family to highlight her housing problem, but, unfortunately, her story will ring true with a lot of people across Dundee,” she said.
“It is a sad fact that much of my casework is spent dealing with housing problems ranging from a lack of affordable housing to overcrowding.
“How exactly is a young adult, like Michelle’s 20 year-old daughter, ever going to get onto the housing ladder if house prices continue to spiral out of control and wage levels continue to stagnate?”
Between 2001 and 2006 the average price of a house in Dundee East rose increased by 124% to £117,511.
However, yearly earnings in Dundee are nearly nine per cent lower than the Scottish average at just £19,516, making buying a home prohibitively expensive for many people.
There are also currently 486 registered homeless people in Dundee and a further 7608 people on the waiting list for socially rented accommodation.
The problem has been compounded by a fall in the number of new houses being built in Dundee, down from 719 in 2003 to 399 last year.
Councillor Joe Fitzpatrick has been trying to help the Thomsons and said, “It is clear the key issue in tackling Dundee’s housing problem is to write off Dundee City Council’s £120 million housing debt.
“More affordable and socially-rented housing needs to be built in order for stories like Michelle’s to become a thing of the past.”
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie added, “We need affordable housing in the city and if the average yearly wage is just over £19,000 then that amounts to a mortgage of somewhere between £58,500 and £78,000.
“This is certainly short of the Dundee average house price of £117,511.
“If we want to have a vibrant economy in Dundee that attracts people to live in our wonderful city, then something needs to be done to sort this housing problem.
“Writing off the debt should be the first, smart move.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive however said that only councils where tenants have voted for a stock transfer of council housing are eligible to have their housing debt written off by the Treasury. |
