Housing & Homelessness - Data
Consultations:
- Consultation carried out in conjunction with Shelter in 2021 (PDF).
- Consultation findings for the Strategic Plan 2022-25 (PDF)
- Consultation with residents of Extra Care Housing 2022 (PDF)
Housing: availability and suitability
Good-quality housing is critical to health, it can reduce demand for NHS and social care services. People living in more deprived areas or on lower incomes are more likely to live in homes that may impact adversely on their health - because of overcrowding, dampness, and cold. Suitable housing supports people who are frail or have a disability to live well in the community.
47,856 - number of projected households in 2039 (from 39,363 in 2020 Midlothian Council, 2020).
2,202 - new affordable homes - sites have been identified in Midlothian’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2019 – 2024. These are being developed by the Council and other local Registered Social Landlords.
Data source: Midlothian council [accessed Jan 2024]
The Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis (2017-2019) for Midlothian shows:
- 39% of households contain one or more long term sick or disabled persons.
- 58% of which are social housing,
- 34% are owner-occupied properties.
- 60% contained pensioners,
- 32% had adults only,
- 27% had families.
- 17% of applicants seeking housing from Midlothian Council have medical needs
Equipment and Adaptations
17% of dwellings in Midlothian have some form of adaptation (The Scottish House Condition Survey)
- 24% of social housing has an adaptation
- 32% of pensioner households have an adaptation
- 10% of family households have an adaptation
- 9% of adult only households have an adaptation
Existing Additional Needs Housing
The largest expected increase in Midlothian’s population is in older people. There are specialist housing options for older people in Midlothian:
- 1 ‘Very Sheltered’ housing facility - accommodation with staff onsite and meals for those over 60. This is Glenesk House (Eskbank) with 35 flats. This is managed by Viewpoint Housing Association.
- No Sheltered housing - this is no longer available. Previous sheltered complexes have deregistered their facilities to retirement status.
- 9 Retirement housing facilities - accommodation with a part time manager onsite for those over 60 years old. More than 50% of the applicants on these waiting lists meet the criteria for Extra Care Housing. Many people prefer to stay in their local area and compromise on accommodation that does not perhaps best suit their long-term care needs than move to another area.
- 8 Extra Care Housing facilities for people with higher care needs. The previous criteria for tenants to be aged 55 and over has been removed.
The majority of adults with learning disabilities (89%) do not live with a family carer. This is much higher than the Scottish average (43%).
Homelessness
In Midlothian there is very little rough sleeping but there are over 1,000 homeless households, mainly living in temporary accommodation (Midlothian Council, 2022).
Reasons for homelessness
The most common reason for homelessness in Midlothian was household dispute or relationship breakdown, closely followed by being asked to leave.
Number of homeless people
The number of people presenting as homeless has been reducing year on year from 601 in 2013/14 to 432 in 2021/22, but increased again in 2022/23 to 576.
Out of the 576 people who presented as homeless 373 of them were adults aged between 26 and 59 years, 140 of them were young adults aged 18 to 25.
Homeless households spend a significant amount of time in temporary accommodation until they can be permanently housed. Midlothian Council reported the longest average number of weeks to close a homeless case in Scotland, with an average time of 105 weeks to close a case (Midlothian Council, 2022). The average time across Scotland was 34 weeks. The shortest average time to close a homeless case in Scotland was 17 weeks. The main reason for this length of time is a lack of supply of social rented lets.
Support needs
Housing First supports people who are homeless and experience complex and multiple need by providing them with a permanent furnished home and support.
25 people moved into a Housing First Tenancy between July 2020 and December 2021.
In 2022/23 the majority of households presenting as homeless had no support needs identified (509), while 79 had at least one support need identified.
Page updated: Feb 2026.