Scottish landlord urges council to reconsider funding cut to housing support services
A Scottish association has called on South Lanarkshire Council to reconsider a proposed £300,000 cut to housing support services in the region.
Hanover Scotland has warned that the cut proposed by the local authority will put vulnerable older people at risk and lead to higher public costs pressures on the NHS.
The reduction in funding would affect 117 older people across five of its developments in Hamilton, Carluke, Larkhall and East Kilbride, the landlord said.
These services provide daily welfare checks, meal assistance and post-hospital recovery help to enable older people to continue living in their own homes.
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Hanover Scotland said there has been “no direct consultation with those it will impact most”, including tenants, their families and staff.
A further £392,000 could also be removed in the 2026-27 financial year.
Esther Wilson, director of customer services at Hanover Scotland, said: “This funding cut could have a devastating impact on some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. It will strip away essential support, leaving older people at greater risk of falls, malnutrition, hospitalisation and, ultimately, increased reliance on social care.
“Removing this funding isn’t just short-sighted – it’s dangerous. Without these services, more older people will end up in hospital unnecessarily or require costly emergency care.”
Sharon Egan, head of housing services at South Lanarkshire Council, said a proposal to remove direct funding to two registered social landlords for two years was one of several saving options presented by council officers in November 2024 “to help bridge a £77m budget gap faced by the council over the next three years”.
“To be clear, no decisions have been made on any of those options ahead of a special meeting of the council on 26 February to set the 2025-26 budget,” she said.
“The funding in question has its roots in the Supporting People programme that ended in 2008, since when direct funding to social landlords of that type has been widely replaced with new commissioning arrangements for similar types of service.
“Indeed, if the saving is approved, South Lanarkshire Council would be one of the last local authorities in Scotland to discontinue this type of funding stream.”
Ms Egan noted that Hanover Scotland was advised in November 2023 that a “significant reduction in this budget was being considered”.
She added: “Hanover Scotland was then formally informed of the saving option for 2025-26 in November 2024, and this was followed up with a meeting on 13 December 2024. It is therefore factually incorrect to state that Hanover Scotland were not made aware of, or consulted on, this saving option.”
She said that these meetings were arranged so that Hanover Scotland could “consider what arrangements they would need to make to prepare for South Lanarkshire potentially joining Scotland’s other local authorities in winding down what is a legacy funding stream”.
“We would have expected those arrangements to include Hanover Scotland considering how they intended to accommodate any such change as part of their wider budget, including through commissioned services and other funding streams. We would also have expected Hanover Scotland to consult their tenants and workforce on any proposed future service model that emerged from that process,” Ms Egan added.
The 5,000-home landlord has called on local councillors and MSPs to intervene. It is also engaging with South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership and as the council to find a solution, it said.
Ms Wilson added: “At a time when every effort should be focused on preventative care and keeping older people safe at home, this proposal does the opposite. It risks stripping away lifeline services that allow people to age with dignity and security.”
Hanover Scotland recently formed a partnership with Veterans Housing Scotland to provide homes for military veterans.
