Author: Jamie Milne

£50million homelessness fund is a vital step to prevent crisis for people and target communities most in need

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New investment to help prevent homelessness across Scotland is a further commitment towards a preventative approach to tackling one of the country’s most pressing social challenges.
 
The Scottish Government’s rollout of a £50million fund will support implementation of new homelessness prevention measures designed to help people stay in their homes and reduce the number reaching crisis point.
 
As part of the investment £1million is being made available to continue a fund that helps social landlords and third sector partners to act early to prevent tenants becoming homelessness. A further £9million will go towards continuing to mitigate the impact of the freeze to Local Housing Allowance.
 
This marks a renewed commitment to shifting the focus from responding to homelessness towards prevention, as councils, housing providers and public services prepare to deliver new legal duties aimed at identifying housing problems earlier and ensuring people receive support before losing their homes.

Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth visited Sanctuary Housing Association’s offices and development in Toryglen, Glasgow to mark the rollout of the funding yesterday.

Homeless Network Scotland chief executive Margaret-Ann Brünjes said: “We know the human cost of homelessness is devastating, and we also know that early action is far more effective than responding once someone has reached crisis.

“Prevention works, but only when it is targeted to communities that need it most. This funding can help build the systems and partnerships needed to identify risks earlier and provide practical support before people lose their homes. We must now maintain momentum.

“This commitment from the Scottish Government provides an important foundation for implementing the new prevention duties successfully.

“The challenge now is making sure the funding reaches frontline services quickly and is backed by the collaboration needed across housing, health, social care and other public services to make prevention a reality rather than an aspiration. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to secure clarity on how the full fund will operate and where it will be deployed.”

One in three worried about losing their home

Scotland’s continuing housing and homelessness emergency is fuelling growing concern among the public about housing insecurity and increasing pressure on local authorities to meet demand for homelessness services.

Recent polling commissioned for the Everyone Home Collective found that more than one in three Scots are worried they could lose their home within the next few years because of pressures including the cost of living, a shortage of affordable housing, rising rents and increasing mortgage costs. Concern was highest among younger adults, highlighting the growing scale of housing insecurity.

Around 250,000 people are currently on housing waiting lists across Scotland, while more than 18,000 households – including around 10,000 children – are living in temporary accommodation.

These figures demonstrate why prevention must sit alongside long-term investment in affordable housing if Scotland is to reverse current trends.

The new funding provides an opportunity to strengthen partnerships between councils, health services, landlords and the third sector, helping to identify housing risks earlier and intervene before people are forced into homelessness.

The continuing £1million Upstream Homelessness Prevention Fund announced as part of the £50million package follows a successful one-year nationwide pilot that saw more than 600 households supported to stay in their social housing tenancies.

A report on the fund to be launched on Thursday (16 July) details how landlords used innovative approaches to prevent homelessness earlier, including through discretionary cash payments and by asking tenants about their situation informally in places like parent and toddler groups.

A key ambition of the pilot administered by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Homeless Network Scotland was to show how social landlords will deliver the new ‘Ask and Act’ prevention duties to prevent homelessness earlier and in a wider range of settings.

Read the Scottish Government announcement

Your chance to honour brilliant frontline workers

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We’re looking forward to celebrating people working in frontline services across homelessness and related sectors at this year’s homelessness conference: honouring the folk who go all out to make the difference for people they support.  

The Viki Fox Heart of Support Award will again honour and highlight great work being in voluntary and public sector roles. There are just two weeks left to nominate someone you think deserves recognition.

The 6 nominees who are selected will receive an award engraved with their name, a £200 cash payment and VIP entry to the conference including meals and accommodation. Nomination is quick and easy – there’s a link below.

The scope of the awards is expanding across sectors

We will celebrate colleagues who work in pioneering, collaborative ways in the housing and homelessness sector and beyond –  in social care, justice, mental health and other services. This recognises that preventing homelessness and supporting people to thrive happens in many different settings – a key theme of this year’s event.   

Last year, high quality short films about the six recipients were shown in the main auditorium, and there was an award-giving event at the conference dinner. It was an uplifting part of the programme and really got to the heart of what great support looks like.

Why nominate?

It’s a chance to celebrate anyone you know who does great work – in roles including caseworkers, advisors, support workers, housing officers, social workers, coaches, counsellors and more. 

The nominees will have the chance to tell delegates about their work – the successes, the challenges, why they do what they do. This will be captured in a short film coproduced with recipients to be presented at the conference. Find out more about the awards including last year’s nominees.

About the conference 

This year’s conference is titled ‘Raising the Level: from Hard Edges to Whole Lives’. The focus is on transforming support for people facing severe and multiple disadvantage – by moving away from fragmented service delivery that delivers trauma, poor outcomes and poor value for money, to a system that is joined-up across sectors and matches the complexity of people’s real life needs. 

Here’s how to nominate

Tell us in around 150 words how your nominee’s way of working makes the difference. It could be about their persistence, methods, the relationships they build, challenging how things are done, innovating. 

The conference will take place on the 6 & 7 October 2026 at Perth Concert Hall. Please do make sure that your colleague agrees to being nominated, can meet with us ahead to create a video and is available to be celebrated at the conference in Perth. Last year’s films also featured contributions from nominators and people being supported. 

Deadline for nominations! For your important entry to be considered, please be sure to send it to us by 29 June, 2026. Just click the button for the short nomination form.

Nominate now

Homeless Network Scotland welcomes Matt Hamill

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Homeless Network Scotland is delighted to welcome Matt Hamill who has taken on the newly created role of Head of Policy and Impact. Matt joins HNS from the Scottish National Party’s Westminster Group, bringing strong experience in policy development, research and political engagement.

Before joining HNS he worked in Westminster politics for nine years and held a senior research and policy role focusing on Justice and Home Affairs before going on to lead the SNP’s research operation in London. Matt also worked closely with colleagues in Holyrood during this time, supporting the work of the Scottish Government.

As Head of Policy and Impact, Matt will provide strategic leadership across policy development and implementation and build key relationships to increase the impact of HNS programmes and projects and strengthen the organisation’s influence. Homeless Network Scotland is the national membership body for organisations committed to preventing and resolving homelessness. Its vision is a Scotland where homelessness is prevented and everyone has a safe and settled home.

Matt said: “This is an incredibly important time to be joining the team at Homeless Network Scotland. With a new parliamentary term underway and a new Housing Cabinet Secretary in place there is a real opportunity to make substantial progress on the urgent and preventable social challenge of homelessness.

“The Scottish Government has rightly declared a housing emergency, but it is vital that accompanying actions match that rhetoric and truly meet the threshold of an emergency response.

“This cannot be business as usual and I look forward to working with parliamentarians, local government and the wider sector to help drive forward real change by protecting the progress that has been made, ambitiously scaling up what we know works and shifting resources away from what we know does not.”

Homeless Network Scotland chief executive Maggie Brünjes said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Matt as our new Head of Policy and Impact. He brings significant policy expertise, political experience and proven ability to translate insight into influence. He is an outstanding strategic appointment for us at this important time.

“Matt will play a vital role in ensuring that the collective expertise we convene – across the homelessness sector, academia and the lived experience of people in Scotland facing housing insecurity – is not just heard but properly acted upon by decision makers.

“We’re confident his leadership will strengthen our evidence-based work and help turn good policy into meaningful, practical progress so that homelessness is prevented and everyone has a safe, settled home.”

Homeless Network Scotland is relocating

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Homeless Network Scotland will be relocating our offices in the coming weeks.

After 14 happy years at the Adelphi Centre in Glasgow, the riverfront building has now closed for redevelopment. Following a thorough search across Scotland, we are pleased to have secured a new central office in Glasgow that will enable us to continue delivering our work and supporting our members effectively.

New Office Details

New Address:
Suite 30, Ladywell Business Centre
94 Duke Street
Glasgow, G4 0UW

Timeline
We get our new keys on 11 May 2026. We will use the following weeks to move in, set up the office and upgrade the facilities. We expect to be fully operational from the new premises from early June 2026 onwards.

Contact Number:
Our main phone number remains unchanged: 0141 420 7272

During the Transition:

  • All member communications and support will continue as normal.
  • All staff email addresses will remain the same.
  • Scheduled events and activities will proceed as planned.
  • There may be short periods of disruption to phone lines or slightly slower response times while we move, but we will keep these to an absolute minimum.
  • We are particularly excited that our new office includes a dedicated training suite, which we look forward to using for in-person network events and training sessions.

Next Steps
If you have any questions about the relocation, please contact Janice Higgins at janice@homelessnetwork.scot or on 0141 420 7272. 

Thank you for your continued support and understanding during this period of change. We are confident the new premises will provide a significantly better base for our work.

One in three Scots fear losing their home in coming years

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Polling shows 61% more likely to back parties prioritising homelessness action in this election

More than one in three Scots are worried they could lose their home within the next few years, according to new polling that highlights mounting anxiety over Scotland’s housing and homelessness emergency.

The research found 35 per cent of people across Scotland are concerned about losing their home because of pressures including the cost of living, a lack of affordable housing, high rents and rising mortgage costs. Concern is highest among 18 to 24-year-olds, where almost half (49 per cent) share that fear.

Concern about housing insecurity remains elevated well beyond the youngest age groups, with 45 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds worried about losing their home in the coming years, followed by 42 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds.

The issue is also being felt across Scotland’s cities and regions, with concern highest in Glasgow at 41 per cent, followed by Inverness at 37 per cent. In Aberdeen and Dundee 32 per cent of Scots are worried about losing their home in the next few years and 31 per cent of people in Edinburgh.

The findings came in polling commissioned for the Everyone Home collective, an expert group of more than 40 expert organisations focused on housing and homelessness in Scotland.

Homeless Network Scotland, who convene the collective, said the findings show housing justice must be a central concern for the new administration, with growing public sentiment reflecting the scale of the country’s housing emergency.

Margaret-Ann Brünjes, Chief Executive at Homeless Network Scotland, said: “These figures confirm that housing insecurity is no longer a fringe issue – it is a weight on the minds of people across Scotland.

“Younger generations, in particular, feel increasingly locked out of the stability they need to build their lives. Voters are sending an unmistakable message: homelessness and housing must be treated as urgent national priorities.

“While these issues are appearing in party manifestos, the level of ambition shown so far falls short of the radical action this emergency demands.”

Around 250,000 people are currently on housing waiting lists across Scotland, while more than 17,000 households, including around 10,000 children, are living in temporary accommodation according to Everyone Home, a coalition that unites third and academic sector expertise with lived experience knowledge of the issue.

Everyone Home’s Housing Justice manifesto called for a significant increase in social and affordable housebuilding to reverse those trends. Research commissioned by The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Shelter Scotland and the Chartered Institute for Housing found Scotland must deliver 15,693 new social and affordable homes every year to reduce homelessness.

The collective warned that failure to act is costing the public heavily, with some local authorities now unable to meet their statutory duties, and forced to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on unsafe and unsuitable temporary accommodation – with a knock-on impact on wider council spending.

Brünjes said: “Homelessness is the harshest consequence of Scotland’s housing emergency. Our broken system is failing far too many people and causing untold harm. Housing justice means fixing that system so everyone has access to a safe, secure and affordable home.

“The human and financial cost of inaction is rising every year, and it is taxpayers who are footing the bill for a system that is being forced to rely on temporary fixes instead of long-term solutions.

“We are spending public money managing crisis rather than preventing it. That is why Scotland needs not only more homes, but better joined-up support across housing, health, justice and social care to stop people falling through the cracks.”

‘Prevention must become a pillar of housing policy’

The collective is also calling for full and effective implementation of new homelessness prevention measures and proper resourcing for frontline public services to identify housing risks earlier and allow intervention before crisis point.

The expert coalition said prevention must become a central pillar of housing policy if Scotland is to reduce pressure on councils, the NHS and wider public services.

Brünjes added: “We know what works. Prevention, early intervention and joined-up services can stop homelessness before it starts – but only if they are properly funded and delivered.

“This election is a major opportunity for all parties to show they understand the scale of the housing emergency and are prepared to meet it with the ambition required.” The polling comes as housing and homelessness campaigners urge political parties to commit to stronger action ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, with calls for housing justice to sit at the heart of the next parliamentary term.