“A budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page; it is an embodiment of our values”
– Barack Obama
Scotland already has a strong housing and homelessness policy framework, including some of the strongest homelessness rights in the world. By providing the financial backing needed to turn policy ambition into practical action, the 2026-27 Scottish Budget aligns investment with our vision for Scotland as a nation of prosperity, fairness and equality, where no one is left behind.
With a record £926 million committed to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, this represents the largest single funding allocation for affordable housing since records began. This is part of our wider commitment of investing up to £4.9 billion over the next four years to support the delivery of 36,000 affordable homes, including family homes for up to 24,000 children – helping to tackle child poverty and end reliance on unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Everyone deserves somewhere to live that is safe, secure and meets their needs. The Scottish Government wants all temporary accommodation to be of good quality, and we have clear standards in place through the Unsuitable Accommodation Order and temporary accommodation standards framework, which local authorities are expected to meet.
However, I recognise the intense pressures councils are facing as they work to meet their statutory homelessness duties – pressures that have been exacerbated by a shortage of affordable housing, UK Home Office policy and Brexit, as well as global economic factors, including post-pandemic inflation and the energy crisis.
I have been clear that local authorities cannot be left to manage this challenge alone. Through my housing emergency action plan, £80 million has been targeted to the local authorities experiencing the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures, supporting the acquisition of homes and helping to reduce the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation such as bed and breakfasts and hotels.
This approach is already delivering results, with both City of Edinburgh and Fife councils giving positive indications they will achieve compliance with the law by March 2027. This must clearly be what we are all working towards.
Whilst these are undoubtedly steps in the right direction, hearing directly from people with lived experience of homelessness about the instability, trauma and barriers they face has convinced me that incremental change will not be enough. To successfully tackle the housing emergency, we must be prepared to take brave, bold action and change our approach.
That is why we intend to establish a new national housing agency providing simplicity, scale and speed in the delivery of the homes Scotland needs. This will help ensure that increased investment delivers the homes needed to prevent and end homelessness.
By accelerating the supply of affordable and social housing, unlocking stalled sites, and addressing barriers to delivery, it will create more settled housing options – helping to prevent the harm of homelessness, shorten time spent in temporary accommodation, and ease pressure on local authority homelessness services across Scotland.
Increasing the supply of homes, while essential, is only part of the solution. To successfully end homelessness, we must focus on prevention as well as provision, because preventing homelessness protects dignity, reduces inequality and unlocks opportunity.
In 2026-27 we are making a record £106 million available to local authorities to spend on Discretionary Housing Payments to help struggling households stay in their homes and prevent homelessness. This includes £83 million to ensure no one in Scotland pays the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax.
The ‘Ask and Act’ duties in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 place early intervention at the heart of our approach and will make preventing homelessness a shared responsibility across public services. To support this shift and to supplement funding for prevention activity included in the local government settlement, we provided £4 million this year to help non-housing services prepare for the new duties, alongside a further £4 million in 2026-27 for a range of homelessness prevention and response initiatives.
We will continue to report annually to Parliament on progress against the actions set out in our Ending Homelessness Together strategy, ensuring transparency and accountability, as we seek to deliver the systemic change needed to achieve real, measurable outcomes on the ground.
Ending homelessness is both a moral imperative and a measure of who we are as a nation, and I am determined to continue to drive the momentum needed to make that ambition a reality.