Covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, the report showed lots of positives, including the delivery of 71 new build properties, good performance on emergency and non-emergency repairs and a high level of tenant satisfaction.

Councillor Andy Forrest, East Lothian Council spokesperson for housing and property maintenance, said: “This report gives an annual overview of how our Housing Service is performing, benchmarking against previous years and national averages. It’s an important piece of work as it clearly shows how we are performing and how we spend tenants’ rent money.

“I would encourage all our tenants to read the report as it contains useful facts about repairs and improvements, housing allocations, homelessness and other services that really matter to our tenants.

“It shows what we are doing well but, importantly, also indicates where we need to be doing better, giving us a focus on what to work on for the next year and beyond to keep delivering the best services we can.

“Highlights for me in this year’s report, in another challenging year of rising costs and increasing pressure on our housing service due to high demand, are: Our delivery of more than 22,500 repairs; our continuing programme of modernisation including kitchens, bathrooms, doors and windows; and the delivery of 71 new build properties. We have also ensured tenant safety by delivering 100% of statutory safety checks.

“I would like to thank East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel (ELTRP) for their continued collaboration with this report and other joint working throughout the year, ensuring our tenants have a voice and help to shape our Housing Service.”

Some highlights from this year’s report:

• 3,576 emergency repairs and 19,274 non-emergency repairs completed with a faster turnaround time than the previous year and a score of more than 88% tenant satisfaction
• 149 new kitchens installed
• 871 new doors and windows installed
• 66 estate inspections competed in conjunction with our tenants
• A score of almost 84% tenant satisfaction with our overall Housing Service

New policies and strategies to reduce the number of empty properties and reduce the re-let turnaround times are showing improvements, and the council has pledged to continue this positive work.