East Lothian councilors have declared an “affordable housing emergency” amid claims they are just “days” away from losing promised land to new developments.

A special meeting of elected members was called to discuss the crisis facing the county’s housing supply after officials said a cut in expected funding from the Scottish Government meant they could no longer invest in sites.

A report by officials said the local authority faced losing up to 1,200 affordable homes it was expected to build over the next five years.

And he said that despite the council receiving “record amounts” of investment from the government in recent years, it was unable to deliver on its strategy due to a sudden drop in funding.

The meeting was told that East Lothian had become a “victim of its own success” after receiving £12 million a year in funding as part of its Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIP), before it fell to just £7 million last year.

The report said: “If investment were available to execute all the projects set out in the SHIP, a total of 1,566 units could be completed over the next five years.

“Based on the actual allocation received, there is a very high risk that we could lose 1,226 units of affordable housing.”

Officials had initially invited councilors to declare a housing emergency, but presented them with an amended proposal describing it as an “affordable housing emergency” to reflect concerns about the loss of the sites.

Councilor Andy Forrest, Labour’s cabinet spokesperson for housing, tabled a motion calling on the Scottish and UK governments to declare such an emergency saying it “requires an urgent response to ensure we do not lose affordable housing units available across our Section 75 obligations.”

However, SNP councilor Lee-Anne Menzies expressed concern that simply declaring an emergency and asking for more money to secure the sites they face losing would not solve the problem.

Councilor Menzies asked for the statement calling for more information to be considered on alternative means of raising revenue, including borrowing against the current housing stock through rent increases, to be postponed.

She said: “We have the most expensive homes in East Lothian but the lowest council rent. “I don’t think we have all the information we need about the options to make this declaration.”

His motion was rejected by 15 votes to four.

Councilor Shona McIntosh, the county’s only Scottish Greens councillor, proposed an addition to Councilor Forrest’s motion that would ask officials to further draw up a housing plan to be tabled again in six months looking at broader options to address the problem.

It was also rejected by Labor and Conservative councilors who voted 15 to four and SNP members supported it.

Council leader Norman Hampshire told the meeting that action needed to be taken now to ensure the Scottish and UK governments were aware of the crisis facing East Lothian.

He said: “Families who are experiencing homelessness at the moment are not worried about all the other problems, they just want a home over their heads.

“We have done everything the Scottish Government has asked of us to bring housing to East Lothian, but 25% affordable housing needs more funding.

“We are just days away from losing these sites unless we can get this message to the government now.”

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