Number of children homeless in temporary housing 'highest on record'
- Published
Families face long waits in temporary accommodation
The number of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland last year was higher than at any time since records began.
The latest homelessness figures, external state that 7,252 children were living in temporary housing in September 2019.
The bi-annual update has been published by Scotland's chief statistician.
When details were first recorded in 2002, just 2,389 children were in temporary accommodation - the lowest number recorded.
Homeless charity Shelter claims homeless people's rights are being "denied on an industrial scale".
The Scottish government says it aims to continue implementing its 49-point homeless action plan this year.
Unsuitable accommodation
National Statistics collected the data from Scotland's local authorities between 1 April and 30 September 2019.
There were 18,645 applications for homelessness assistance during this period.
Glasgow experienced the greatest increase in the number of applications from 5,274 to 5,873 (11%). Perth & Kinross saw the biggest decrease from 1,025 to 780 (24%).
The rise in the number of families waiting for permanent homes was one of the biggest issues.
At the end of the reporting period, there were 11,432 households in temporary accommodation, an increase of 4% on a year ago and the highest figure since 2002.
Of these, 3,579 households in temporary accommodation had children or someone who was pregnant - up 8%.
Households spent an average of 178 days in temporary accommodation but for those with children, this rose to 212 days.
Another issue was that of unsuitable accommodation.
Shelter staged a protest outside the city chambers in Glasgow last summer over homeless people being refused temporary accommodation
Twelve local authorities reported a breach of the Homelessness Persons Unsuitable Accommodation Order in the reporting period. This was a law introduced in 2019 to make sure homeless pregnant women and families with children would not stay in unsuitable accommodation like B&Bs for for more than seven days.
There were a total of 190 breaches over this period - 125 of these were in Edinburgh.
And 18,157 applications were unlawfully refused temporary accommodation. The majority of these - 82% - were in Glasgow.
Homeless charity Shelter said local authorities were failing to deliver their legal obligations to homeless people.
Statutory duties
Its director, Graeme Brown, said: "These statistics lay bare the reality of our housing emergency.
"More children in temporary accommodation than we've seen in the last 17 years and many households turned away altogether."
He said that despite the success of the Scottish government's affordable housing building programme, there was still a chronic shortage of social housing in Scotland to ensure everyone has a safe, affordable home.
Charities want more affordable homes built to solve the housing crisis
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said the Scottish government was working with local councils, people with experience of homelessness and front-line services to "transform" homelessness services.
"Scotland has some of the strongest rights in the world for anyone experiencing homelessness, including the right to help from their local authority to secure a stable home and emergency temporary accommodation," he added.
"I recognise we must go further to achieve this for everyone.
"That is why the Scottish government has invested £32.5m into Rapid Rehousing and Housing First to prioritise permanent, settled accommodation, as the first response to minimise the length of time people spend in temporary accommodation.
""In the first year of our £50m Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan, we have progressed 39 out of 49 measures with plans to start the remaining 10 this year."
- Published2 October 2019
- Published5 December 2018
