Housing

Homes are for living in. Too many young people and families are being priced out of the Borders communities they grew up in.

What’s happening

Homeless families sent to England. The council has placed homeless households in temporary accommodation in Carlisle because it has nothing suitable locally.
Money left unspent. An underspend of about £5.39 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme was reported in June 2026.
Second and empty homes. From April 2026 the council charges 225% Council Tax on second homes and 300% on homes empty for a year or more, using powers won by Green MSPs.
Sites left idle. In Innerleithen, planning permission for flats at the top of Traquair Road has been kept alive for years by digging a single hole.

Build and buy. More social and council homes, and let the council buy empty homes off the shelf to house local families.
Ring-fence the second-homes money for affordable local housing.
Use compulsory sale powers on derelict land and long-empty buildings.
Protect local housing from holiday lets, with a short-term let control area where pressure is worst.
End out-of-area placements for homeless households.
Warmer homes. Grants for insulation, heat pumps and solar, and community heat networks.