Homeless system under strain as families wait months for housing

There is simply a increasing unit connected the homelessness strategy successful Scotland arsenic immoderate families hold months for housing, caller information is expected to reveal.

The yearly statistic for homelessness are released later, aft the Scottish authorities and 12 section councils person already declared a “housing emergency”.

Politicians cited grounds precocious totals of households successful impermanent accommodation and rising waiting times for societal housing.

It comes aft the Scottish authorities this twelvemonth announced a 26% chopped to its affordable lodging budget.

Michelle and her 3 daughters person been successful impermanent stateless accommodation for 18 months.

The 40-year-old’s household was made stateless aft her backstage fto was repossessed by a owe lender from her landlord.

Since then, she and her daughters – 1 of whom has autism – person been moving betwixt stateless flats arsenic the assembly effort to find her a suitable home.

“I didn’t deliberation we would beryllium waiting this long,” said Michelle, a erstwhile NHS attraction worker.

“We were successful a edifice for three-and-a-half weeks but were told that wrong a week we’d beryllium moved to a suitable property.

“But we person conscionable been moved from spot to place.”

She is not allowed to decorate her ground-floor level and erstwhile BBC Scotland News visited, determination was nary carpet connected the floor.

Michelle and her daughters are preparing to determination to their 3rd level successful 2 years.

She said: “It’s hard. It’s affecting my intelligence health. The assembly conscionable accidental determination are nary crushed floor, 3 chamber properties that suit our needs.

“They person told america that it volition apt beryllium a five-year wait.”

Glasgow City Council is progressive successful uncovering the household accommodation – and is 1 of the section authorities that has recognised the wide concern arsenic an emergency.

A spokeswoman said: “We are successful a lodging situation and unluckily the request for imperishable accommodation acold outstrips availability and supply.

“That means radical – peculiarly larger families with children – are spending longer successful impermanent accommodation than anyone would wish.”

Michelle’s 3 daughters, including Devon, 11, were among a grounds 9,800 children successful Scotland’s impermanent lodging strategy past year.

Scotland is successful the grip of a lodging exigency - that is the presumption of the Scottish government.

For the past year, BBC Scotland has followed the plight of individuals navigating the homelessness strategy – and the authorities trying to assistance them.

Last year, yearly homelessness applications were obscurity adjacent the highest of much than 60,000 successful 2005-06. In 2023, that full stood astatine much than 39,000 applications.

Rough sleeping was besides a little than a 3rd of the numbers seen successful 2002.

However, the fig of unfastened cases – wherever radical are successful stateless properties and waiting for imperishable homes – has been increasing steadily implicit the decades, until past year’s grounds full of 29,000.

More than 15,000 households – a 3rd of them families with children – were successful impermanent accommodation. It was different record.

Meanwhile, the mean clip spent surviving successful specified properties has steadily risen from 41 days backmost successful 2002, to 266 days past year.

It is these figures that person prompted 12 Scottish councils – much than a 3rd of section authorities – to declare their ain emergencies since past summer.

Homeless services are nether strain, they said. Councils are struggling to find imperishable homes for thousands of radical stuck successful impermanent accommodation.

The latest figures are not expected to amusement overmuch betterment – with agelong waits successful stateless accommodation and increasing numbers of children stuck successful the system.

Charity Shelter Scotland has been astatine the forefront of the run to impulse politicians to state a “housing emergency”.

Its manager Alison Watson has spoken astatine assembly meetings, appealing straight for authorities to recognise the agelong waits and pressures facing stateless families.

She told BBC Scotland that she expected the figures to beryllium “pretty grim”.

Ms Watson continued: “At the extremity of the day, we cognize that austerity measures person driven a batch of poverty, a batch of issues for radical keeping a extortion implicit their head.

“But lodging does proceed to not beryllium seen arsenic a precedence by our politicians. I accidental the astir important contented of interest america is decades of underinvestment successful societal housing.

“Now we don't person a shortage of highly progressive lodging rights and homelessness policies successful Scotland. But we're failing to invest.”

The declaration of the lodging exigency has nary ineligible effect, but Shelter Scotland hopes it volition spur politicians into much urgent action.

“We person enlarged the close to a home, but we didn't enlarge the proviso of homes indispensable to marque that a reality. Rights that beryllium lone connected insubstantial are of precise small value.”

She added: “If we had a capable proviso of societal homes, we wouldn't beryllium seeing these record-breaking levels of homelessness that we're present starting to get.

“I deliberation the different cardinal contented of interest present is that it's precise wide that section authorities bash not person the capableness and resources for their homelessness services.”

Shelter Scotland and different charities person said the solution to the existent occupation is to physique much societal housing.

But the latest information connected house-building suggests operation is slowing down.

In 2023-24, the fig of caller societal homes being completed fell by 27%, portion the fig of those homes being started was astatine its lowest level since 2012-13.

The Scottish authorities aims to physique 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 – 70% of which volition beryllium for societal rent. Around 21,000 of those homes had already been built by March this year.

In the 2023-24 fund earlier this year, the Scottish authorities chopped the affordable lodging fund by £200m, astir 26%.

Finance caput Shona Robison said this was owed to cuts to its superior fund by Westminster.

Jennifer Kennedy is the caput of nationalist argumentation for Homes For Scotland, which represents much than 200 builders.

She said the £200m chopped has already led to the operation of astir 5,000 affordable homes being “stalled”.

Ms Kennedy said: “The manufacture inactive hasn't afloat recovered from the planetary fiscal situation by the clip they had to woody with Covid.

“So whilst successful that intervening play determination has been a gradual summation successful the fig of caller homes that were being delivered, they inactive hadn't managed to instrumentality to the 25,000 highest [of 20 years ago].

“Planning is inactive the biggest blocker. If you if you were to inquire immoderate location builder, it volition beryllium the readying system.”

Referring to statistic connected location gathering besides being published, she said: “If we proceed to spot the driblet disconnected successful starts, that past means that there's going to beryllium less and less houses coming done the system.

“It doesn't look similar there's overmuch scope for it betterment unless there's drastic and urgent enactment is taken by government.”

“I deliberation ‘housing emergency’ is simply a catchphrase for drafting attentions to lodging problems,” said lodging adept Prof Douglas Robertson, formerly of Stirling University.

“But I’m not definite however the lodging exigency is immoderate antithetic from years and years of radical antecedently saying there's a ‘housing crisis’.

“I presume successful an exigency you bash things to resoluteness that emergency. I'm not really seeing either councils oregon authorities coming up with thing antithetic than they've done before.”

Prof Robertson said historical policies specified arsenic the Right To Buy – wherever tenants could acquisition assembly properties – person “distorted” the lodging system.

“The accommodation isn’t determination astatine the moment, that’s the problem,” helium said.

“They’re staying successful impermanent accommodation of mediocre quality, hotels for example. Yet the councils accidental they are not capable to physique houses due to the fact that the wealth is going the incorrect direction.”

He continued: “We are dealing with a lodging strategy that is present wholly different.

“In the past we didn’t person tons of radical with lodging wealthiness owning a 2nd location connected Airbnb. The affluent present person everything they privation successful presumption of housing, and the mediocre person nothing.

“Housing is conscionable a reflection of the inequality successful society.”

The Scottish authorities has made nary other wealth disposable aft its MSPs voted to state a lodging emergency.

Housing curate Paul McLennan said the government’s forthcoming Housing Bill would “help support radical successful their homes”.

He said: “The Scottish authorities is wide that everyone should unrecorded successful an affordable and precocious prime location that meets their needs.

“Since 2007, we person supported the transportation of much than 131,000 affordable homes, with much than 93,000 of those being for societal rent.

“We volition proceed to physique connected that grounds with astir £600 cardinal of concern successful the Affordable Housing Supply programme this twelvemonth and we stay focused connected supporting the transportation of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

“The Housing Bill introduces a scope of measures, including rent controls and homelessness prevention duties, to assistance support radical successful their homes.

“We volition proceed to enactment with tenants, landlords and investors arsenic the Bill progresses done Parliament.”