People facing homelessness in Scotland are once again at risk of trauma and harm as the housing emergency threatens the return of old-style communal night shelters, experts fear.
The warning, echoed by people with lived experience of using shelters, comes as groundbreaking research from Heriot-Watt University details how Scotland ended use of ‘shared air’ shelters from 2020-2024, following decades of work by the third sector and local and national government.
The University’s Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) sets out evidence of the serious impact communal shelters can have on people, including exposure to infectious disease and violence, and raises concerns the housing crisis could see more shelters open to fill gaps in emergency accommodation. But the research also shows a return to responses that prioritise good support and access to housing is achievable.
The peer-reviewed research, published in the International Journal on Homelessness, provides the first detailed analysis of how Scotland closed its emergency shelters during the pandemic and maintained a shelter-free response from 2020 to 2024.
Scotland’s approach included rapidly relocating residents to single-room accommodation and establishing Welcome Centres as multi-agency triage hubs. Within eight months, this emergency measure had evolved into formal Scottish Government policy to end dormitory-style shelter provision permanently. This was enabled by policy building blocks developed over previous decades, including strong legal rights to housing, a substantial social housing sector and robust welfare protections.
These foundations resulted in Scotland having comparatively low levels of rough sleeping, 40% lower than England, making shelter closure more achievable than in nations with higher rough sleeping rates.
The research also documents the extensive evidence of the harm caused by emergency shelters while demonstrating there is no evidence that shelters provide a pathway to permanent housing.
Shelters can result in:
- Some people choosing to sleep rough and take other potentially life-threatening risks rather than use shelters
- Worse health outcomes than receiving no support at all
- Violence, infectious disease and drug-related harms from communal living
- Rules and curfews that limit people’s freedom, high stress, stigmatisation and the feeling of being treated like a child
- Damaged relationships with friends, family and children
- People dealing with serious challenges trapped in cycles without their needs being met
Lived experience views
Suzanne, who has experienced homelessness and researched other people’s experiences of using services, said: “With the women it is all about safety. A lot of guys didn’t feel safe but what really came across was that women would rather sleep in the street or hook up with a guy to get away from having to go to the shelter.
“If the only alternative is an unregulated shelter, women would swerve towards going somewhere safe instead. A lot of people feel unsafe when they go into a shelter and can be triggered by the environment, causing them trauma and bringing up past trauma. Shelters are a sticking plaster. Until we come up with a solution there’s still a demand for them. We need an alternative.”
James, who also experienced homelessness, said: “My experience of night shelters was after presenting in Edinburgh. I was handed a list of churches where I could sleep on the floor. I had all my stuff with me, I was pointed to a yoga mat and given an itchy blanket.
“I lay uncomfortably cuddled into my backpack as I was worried it would be stolen when I was asleep. I pretty quickly realised many people were injecting legal highs. At some point during the night there was a queue for the toilet.
“People were sharing injecting equipment, and I later learned that at this point there was an HIV outbreak. This was not communicated and presented a serious risk to those arriving who were already struggling and vulnerable. Some of the community I met in that shelter were later sleeping in a mausoleum in a graveyard rather than using shelter accommodation.”
Threats to a shelter-free approach
Critically, the research identifies the serious threats to maintaining Scotland’s shelter-free approach, including:
- Rising demand pressures: Homelessness applications increased by 10% in a single year (2021/22-2022/23), temporary accommodation use rose 29% in three years, and the Scottish Parliament declared a national housing emergency in May 2024.
- During winter 2023/24, Glasgow’s Welcome Centre experienced surges in demand that strained resources.
- Barriers for people with No Recourse to Public Funds: Current restrictions mean this group can only access emergency accommodation for limited periods, pushing vulnerable people towards rough sleeping or creating pressure for shelter provision.
- Community pressure: In January 2024, a volunteer-run shelter opened in Glasgow despite concerns from people with lived experience about their safety as well as health risks and increased anti-social behaviour in the vicinity.
Professor Beth Watts-Cobbe, lead author from Heriot-Watt University’s Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research, said: “Our research demonstrates that ending shelter use is achievable, as Scotland proved between 2020 and 2024. This was possible because of policy foundations built over decades combined with rapid action during the pandemic to relocate shelter residents to single-room accommodation.
“However, this progress is now under serious threat from rising demand, inadequate provision for people with No Recourse to Public Funds, and community pressure to reopen dormitory-style shelters. The evidence is clear that shelters perpetuate harms among exceptionally disadvantaged people and fail to provide pathways to sustainable housing. Returning to dormitory-style provision would represent a significant failure to minimise housing-related harms to those who are most in need of support.
“The key lesson from Scotland’s experience is that shelter-free responses are possible but require both the right policy foundations and sustained commitment to maintain them. Other jurisdictions can learn from Scotland’s approach but must recognise that creating these enabling conditions takes deliberate policy choices and adequate resourcing over time.”
The research acknowledges the important role of the Everyone Home Collective, convened by Homeless Network Scotland, in building cross-sector agreement around a shelter-free vision. Their Welcome Centre approach means providing rapid access to single-room accommodation.
We know the solutions
Maggie Brünjes, chief executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said: “For too long, the public image of homelessness has been stuck in an outdated stereotype of night shelters – basic, dormitory-style spaces congregating people in crisis, often accepted as inevitable and ‘good enough’ for those at the hardest edges of society.
“This critical new research highlights Scotland’s remarkable achievement in maintaining a shelter-free response from 2020 to 2024, decisively shifting to self-contained temporary accommodation and settled housing in the community. This hard-won progress – driven by leadership from Glasgow and Edinburgh local authorities, adaptive charities that modernised their services and strong Scottish Government policy – now risks reversal amid surging demand and the national housing emergency.
“People with first-hand experience, academics and charities have long made the case that communal shelters cause unnecessary harm and fear. The joint manifesto from the Everyone Home collective and All in For Change unites these interests ahead of the 2026 election, spelling out the solutions that need scaled for a Scotland where everyone has a home. This research shows that real progress is possible – but only through sustained investment and political commitment.”
The research also notes how both Bethany Christian Trust in Edinburgh and Glasgow City Mission, faith-based organisations that previously operated shelters, played important roles in relocating residents during the pandemic and have become providers of the alternative Welcome Centre model.
The researchers now urge policy makers to:
- Maintain commitment to avoiding dormitory-style emergency provision, recognising that returns to this model represent failures to minimise housing-related harms
- Address rising demand pressures through increased social housing supply, enhanced homelessness prevention, and adequate resourcing of alternative provision
- Remove barriers preventing people with No Recourse to Public Funds from accessing emergency accommodation beyond single nights, recognising that current restrictions push vulnerable people towards rough sleeping
- Invest in and expand alternatives to shelters including single-room accommodation to provide access to mainstream housing with support
- Recognise that maintaining the policy foundations that have enabled a shelter-free Scotland to be maintained
The research emphasises that Scotland’s experience provides important lessons for homelessness policy globally, particularly in the Global North, demonstrating that reliance on harmful dormitory-style shelters is neither inevitable nor necessary. However, it acknowledges that Scotland’s achievement was enabled by comparatively low rough sleeping levels and specific policy foundations developed over decades.
