The organisation, which provides long-term support to housing projects across the south of Scotland, released a report on the problem earlier this year, which revealed that 77% of employers in the region say a lack of housing is affecting their ability to recruit and retain staff.
More new-built family homes and short-term rental properties are needed in Dumfries, according to the report, while more dedicated key worker homes are needed in Stranraer and Sanquhar.
“There aren’t enough people around to support things like primary schools or retention of shops or pubs.”
Staples’ colleague, Partnership and Learning Manager Chris Dalglish, who helped lead the study, adds: “We engaged directly with employers of over 24,000 key workers in the South of Scotland.
“We found that a lack of the right kind of housing is a real problem for the health sector, for social care, for Police Scotland, and for schoolteachers, particularly in Dumfries and Galloway.”
There are two primary issues which contribute to the growing issue of housing scarcity, Daglish notes.
“Some can’t find houses that are affordable to them,” he tells me. “Affordability is a big issue. But there’s a second thing around availability, because some of the key workers, like doctors, who have much higher salaries still have a problem finding housing which allows them to take up a job in the South of Scotland.
“There are not enough homes to go around. As such, there is a real concern about loss of access to services or having a much more difficult time accessing services because the geography of the region can lead to long and difficult journeys to get to a place like Dumfries.”
Of course, a reduction in key workers has a knock-on effect on essential services.
Dalglish provides one concrete example of how this looks in practice, noting: “There is a real struggle in the social care sector, particularly in the more rural places to recruit and retain staff for care homes.
“What that means is that the older generation may have to leave the communities they’ve been in for years. They would like to stay, and they have all these connections socially, but they need to go somewhere else because the care home shuts down.”
Staples says: “We consider it very positive that this issue is being tackled at all in the South of Scotland. The fact that the South of Scotland Housing Action Plan, which is collaborative and partner driven, has come together is a very positive starting point.
“We know there is an issue around key worker housing. So now it’s about trying to do something about it and understanding the scale of the challenge. That’s a really positive starting point.
The South of Scotland Action Plan was released in July 2024 by the Regional Economic Partnership (REP), which consists of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders councils, South of Scotland Enterprise, the South of Scotland Destination Alliance, and a number of higher educational institutions and social housing landlords.
The plan seeks to build 9,000 homes across the region over the next ten years, attracting new people to the region and retaining young residents in a bid to stem the tide of depopulation.
As a result of the proposals, SOSCH was commissioned to lead a report on key worker housing last year.
Dalglish adds: “We need to do things differently. These houses are just not there. Collaboration is one of the things that seems to be different. Real concrete projects are beginning to emerge through discussions with different people, like the NHS or Police Scotland or local authorities.”
“We also need to look at publicly owned land; whether that’s owned by the local authority, the Scottish Government, Forestry and Land Scotland, or the NHS. It’s important to look at what land holdings are there and how they could be used to develop housing for key workers.”
Of course, the funding side of things is also critically important, as Dalglish points out.
“There’s money being spent on temporary housing for key workers by the NHS,” he notes. “Now that could be used much more strategically to feed into the delivery of housing alongside other sorts of public sources of money.”
Indeed, SOSCH has been involved in a number of community housing projects in Dumfries and Galloway.
In the village of Closeburn, SOSCH helped residents build three family homes which were subsequently allocated to tenants with a local connection and an ‘evinced housing need’.
Further collaboration with the Nith Valley Leaf Trust will see five more homes built nearby.
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Similarly, in the burgh of Langholm, SOSCH provided support for the community restoration of a dilapidated town centre building. Partnering with the Eskdale Foundation, the town’s Old Police Station was retrofitted and now contains four apartments for families and older residents.
That’s why Staples sees brighter days on the horizon, despite the challenges people in Dumfries and Galloway still face.
“If we had this conversation three years ago,” he tells me, “none of this stuff would be happening, so there is quite a positive energy going forward.”
