Shelter Scotland criticises politicians as temporary accommodation reaches record highs

Thousands of people including children are trapped in temporary accommodation in Scotland, according to new figures.

The Scottish government’s latest figures show that as of March, 16,300 households were in temporary accommodation — the highest number since records began in 2002.

The data shows local homelessness services are breaking the law more often, with councils unlawfully turning away households entitled to temporary accommodation 17 times more than last year.

The news comes after 12 Scottish councils have declared a housing emergency.

Politicians have failed to deliver

According to the Scottish government, a record-breaking 10,110 children are also trapped in temporary accommodation. Shelter Scotland has slammed politicians for “failing to get a grip on the housing crisis”.

Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “These figures show clearly that it is children in Scotland that are paying the highest price for politician’s failure to get a grip on the housing emergency; they should be a source of great national shame.

“Once again Scotland has broken unwelcome records, and the sad fact is that’s becoming the norm whenever these statistics are published. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that we’re seeing homelessness by design; politicians know what needs to be done but have consistently failed to deliver.

“This is a grim reminder of the reality of Scotland’s housing emergency; more and more children losing their homes every day, getting stuck in the homelessness system, trapped in miserable temporary accommodation for ever increasing lengths of time.

“Every level of government has played a part in allowing the housing emergency to get to this disgraceful point, so politicians at every level of government have a more duty to act.”

The charity also called on the First Minister to prove he was serious about his ambition to end child poverty in Scotland by reversing housing cuts when his government publishes its budget in December.

Deeply concerning

The average time spent in temporary accommodation for cases closed in 2023-24 was 226 days, just up from 225 days the previous year.

According to the Scottish government, in total, there were 31,870 open unresolved homeless cases – an 8% rise on the previous year.

Housing minister Paul McLennan described the latest figures as “deeply concerning”.

He told the BBC: “I know the lack of a settled home seriously affects people’s health and life chances.

“They demonstrate the scale of the challenge we face in tackling the housing emergency and I am determined to work with partners to reverse this trend.”

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