Homelessness statistics released yesterday show that the life-limiting impact of the housing emergency on people in Scotland is deepening – and risks becoming the norm with a continued absence of the action needed to solve the problem.
Households in temporary accommodation hit a record 17,240 with a 6% rise in 12 months. More than 10,000 children, enough kids to fill a town, spend long periods of their young lives stuck in temporary accommodation.
The official Scottish Government statistics for the year to March 2025 showed the average number of days people spend in this limbo is 238 days – 386 if you’re a couple with a child.
34,067 households were assessed by councils as homeless, with 31,695 open homelessness cases – the highest on record. The increase in repeat homelessness also signals a deepening cycle of instability, with people unable to secure lasting solutions amid stretched services and a shortage of social and affordable homes.
Meanwhile, the number of people reporting they slept rough the night before applying for assistance rose 28% to 2,465. Glasgow now accounts for 43% of all rough sleeping – followed by Edinburgh (8%), Fife (7%), Aberdeen City (4%), Dundee and Highland (both 3%). We know from research and lived experience evidence how dangerous that desperate course of action is.
And people were not able to exercise their right to temporary accommodation in 16,485 instances – up 106% in one year. This all combines to paint a picture of people being failed at crisis points despite the best efforts of statutory services operating under severe pressure, and shows the reality of a broken system.
More homes and more support
Earlier this month the Cabinet Secretary for Housing Màiri McAllan unveiled measures to heal that system with a housing emergency action plan. While her proposals prioritise creating more social homes and boosting support for people worst affected by the emergency, they don’t go far enough.
Above all, we need more homes. The £4.9bn spend on affordable homes announced by the Cabinet Secretary is well short of the estimated £8.2bn cost of creating the required 15,693 homes each year from 2026-2031, set out in a report by Shelter Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland.
If we are to bring these numbers down, we also need to make sure everyone has access to the support they need, delivered by a joined-up system with people at the heart.
More resource for Housing First was welcome. But with an estimated 10% of demand being met today, we need this scaled up dramatically to support people whose homelessness is made worse by severe and multiple disadvantage. This will prevent more people having to sleep rough and ultimately save money for other services including the NHS.
And looking forward, it is crucial that the new homelessness prevention measures in the Housing Bill are properly resourced and delivered, to divert more people from crisis and ease pressure on services.
We welcome measures announced today by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing to tackle the impact of the housing emergency on people across Scotland.
It is right to focus first on addressing the impact of this solvable emergency on children’s wellbeing and health, on the most disadvantaged and excluded groups in society, and on people who face real peril for want of access to safe accommodation.
And it is right to provide more investment for homes and more acquisitions. Without the right level of spending on these national priorities, homelessness and rough sleeping will only get worse, at great cost to people, communities, and the public finances.
While £4.9billion for affordable housing over the next 4 years is significant – along with a commitment to multi-year funding projections – it falls well short of the £1.64billion annual investment that is needed to bring homes in reach for everyone, according to authoritative research released today by Shelter Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.
Rapid Rehousing and Housing First
We know Rapid Rehousing, including Housing First with wraparound support, is the right plan to reduce homelessness. Extending Rapid Rehousing Transition funding of £8million into 2026/27 will support councils to implement their Rapid Rehousing plans and provide the right housing options for everyone in their community.
A £1million uplift in Housing First funding this year can keep more people in tenancies, breaking the cycle of repeat homelessness and saving money for services people rely on when they become homeless, including the NHS, mental health, and justice.
Providing £3million for social landlords to acquire properties to deliver Housing First in targeted locations is a further positive step in scaling up Housing First, which currently meets just 9% of projected demand – a figure that has not changed from last year.
The next step must be to introduce longer-term funding arrangements and increase funding so Housing First can help more people. Local authorities and support providers are crying out for the certainty that multi-year settlements bring, for the benefit of tenants and frontline workers as well as their own vital operations.
Temporary accommodation
People who experience homelessness must have access to the same range of housing options as other members of the public. For some people, the private rented sector offers the right choice, in the right place at the right time. For that reason, investing up to £2million through the Scottish Government’s Discretionary Housing Payments scheme to support households in temporary accommodation to find settled homes in the private rented sector is also to be welcomed.
Increasing supply of good quality temporary accommodation through private sector leasing will, we hope, divert more people away from unsuitable and unsafe conditions – while also squeezing out providers who make millions by providing squalid accommodation.
The Scottish Government can go further by creating a challenge fund to supply more good quality temporary accommodation delivered by the third sector and social landlords. Increasing supply of good quality temporary accommodation will be crucial, given the measures announced today to proactively ‘flip’ good quality temporary accommodation occupied by families with children into settled homes wherever possible. A positive measure mustn’t have a negative knock-on effect.
No rollback on rights
The Cabinet Secretary has today shown boldness and a welcome sense of urgency with her action plan. We appreciate her strong commitment to preserving existing housing rights, voiced in the chamber, and her demand that the Home Office properly fund and organise its asylum processes.
It is unrealistic to demand that the Cabinet Secretary solve the housing emergency in the remaining nine months of this parliament. But it is crucial that this momentum continues after the election in May. The next Scottish Government must build on this action, not least by stretching to meet the true cost of building the social and affordable homes we need.
Alongside that, the next government must also ensure the prevention measures in the Housing Bill are properly implemented – because the best way to tackle homelessness is by preventing it happening as early as possible.
In this month’s briefing we share a report from the Housing Taskforce, research on ‘missingness’ in healthcare, a long read on the Thistle Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow, and details of the First Minister’s prevention-focused public service reform agenda.
And you’ll find a wide range of learning opportunities, events and research across homelessness and related sectors. Find the link below and sign up here to get the monthly briefing delivered straight to your inbox – the easiest way to stay in the loop.
Earlier this year, Glasgow Homelessness Involvement and Feedback Team (GHIFT) investigated people’s experiences of using winter night shelters or welcome centres last winter. The team carried out a survey and interviewed people in three day centres, including a women’s service, to gather evidence of what’s happening on the ground right now and find out what people want prioritised in winter 2025-26. Their findings were published in the Homeless in winterreport. GHIFT is a team of Associates of Homeless Network Scotland with first-hand experience of homelessness in Glasgow and at the forefront of work to improve services in the city. Below, team member Jeremy Wylie shares his experience of the project.
Glasgow in the winter is a challenging place. The cold and dark exacerbate the challenges people experiencing homelessness face, such as exposure and further isolation. As a team of people with lived experience of homelessness, many of us are aware of this issue and have slept rough in the winter.
So we wanted to turn our experiences into something constructive and positive. Night services play a vital role in helping people. GHIFT designed a survey of people using those services, so that the experiences of other people can inform solutions and strategies that will benefit everyone who needs support during the rough winter nights in future.
Designing the survey
Our goal in designing a survey was to gather evidence from people using night-time services to advocate for ways to improve this journey. While as a group we acknowledge that there can be trauma associated with shelters, we recognise that these places will continue to exist without better solutions being put in place.
We know there are better solutions, such as rapid rehousing into settled housing or access to community-based temporary furnished flats. But the immediate need for night-time services can’t be overlooked. The survey questions were carefully crafted to bring to light the experiences of individuals in order to identify the benefits and drawbacks of overnight services.
We included questions on people’s sense of safety and security, and challenges such as overcrowding and the lack of privacy. We knew it would not always be easy or comfortable for people to share their experiences, so we thanked participants with a £20 shopping voucher.
Conducting the research
Despite all members of GHIFT having an involvement in this project, three members conducted interviews with 16 individuals – 11 men and 5 women. We spoke to people in the day centres as we know how important it is to meet people where they are, in a familiar setting, with a central location and supporting a diverse range of people, all with different experiences.
To ensure the interviews were conducted ethically and respectfully, we obtained informed consent from each participant and assured them of their anonymity. The interviews were structured around the survey questions but we allowed room for open responses to capture a richer range of responses and experiences.
With all our feedback gathered, we sat down as a team and analysed it to pick out themes, barriers to support, and what is and isn’t working well. All of this is contained in the report. After it was published, we presented our findings to councillors, officials and an MSP at an event in the City Chambers in Glasgow.
Emotional and personal impact
Being involved in this project was a deeply meaningful experience for GHIFT. We had different roles including designing the questions, conducting the research and analysing the responses.
As people with personal experience of being homeless, we felt a strong sense of responsibility – it was gratifying to know our efforts could potentially make a small difference and raise awareness in our city, a place we are proud of, with a rich history and culture.
Glasgow has a global reputation as a leading city in tackling homelessness. However, GHIFT are not oblivious to the challenges the city faces.
At the City Chambers we had an in-depth discussion and to hear the honest truth about those challenges from the people we invited made us feel like we were not wasting our time with this piece of work.
We were all one team in one room, all connecting and trying to come up with a solution. This engagement made members of GHIFT feel respected.
Conclusion
There is no denying that over the past few years there has been a lot of change in the world, from the cost-of-living crisis to wars, and not to mention the lingering effects of the pandemic – an event that forced people to use hotels as emergency shelter and which mentally was a very challenging situation for people trying to get back on their feet.
However, the difficult times we are all experiencing won’t stop us from trying our best and persevering through choppy waters. Despite all the hardship, we saw and heard incredible examples of resilience and people’s determination to overcome their circumstances.
It became clear that addressing homelessness is a complex challenge influenced by many factors. This project reinforced our belief in the importance of compassion and the need for continued efforts to support those experiencing homelessness. It also made us more determined to advocate for those better solutions mentioned above, such as a rapid rehousing that works, and can provide a more dignified and sustainable path forward for people.
Glasgow City Council has committed to the principle that there should be no ‘shared air’ communal night shelters in the city after hearing hard-hitting testimony of the damaging impact they had on people who were homeless last winter.
The pledge by councillors and officials came at a summit held by Glasgow Homelessness Involvement and Feedback Team (GHIFT) to share findings from their recent investigation into people’s experiences of using shared air night shelters in Glasgow.
GHIFT, a team with first-hand experience of homelessness who work to improve services in Glasgow, invited councillors, officials and MSPs to hear their evidence and inform decisions that will help keep people safe this winter and in the longer term.
The event heard real stories of people who felt unsafe, disrespected and traumatised during the worst crisis of their lives – with some people opting to sleep rough, sofa surf or take other risks rather than use a communal night shelter.
GHIFT also shared examples of good practice and what people want to see from better overnight provision, with safety, privacy and direct links to services among the priorities.
Why did GHIFT do this work?
The team carried out the survey earlier this year to assess the impact on people of changes to overnight winter services in Glasgow for people experiencing homelessness.
Being roofless in winter and during other extreme weather events is particularly brutal due to the intensified physical and psychological toll on people.
Freezing temperatures, snow and ice increase the risk of severe harm. And throughout the year, exposure to high winds, heavy rain or heatwaves also makes people’s situation more precarious. Glasgow has the highest level of rough sleeping in Scotland, followed by Edinburgh, Fife and Highland.
In previous years, a welcome centre provided in partnership between the council and local charities ensured access to individual rooms, meals, multi-agency support and rapid access to self-contained rooms and community accommodation.
But the housing emergency, rapidly rising homelessness, shortages of all forms of accommodation and overwhelming pressure on homelessness budgets and services hampered all efforts to provide a welcome centre last winter.
The team asked city decision makers at the event to resolve this situation as a matter of urgency for the winter ahead and to join them in committing to the principle that shared air shelters are inadequate, compromise dignity and reinforce stigma.
GHIFT members spoke at the event about their experiences of carrying out the survey, including specific concerns women raised about safety, and moving examples of the compassionate and equality-led support they found in other services.
Extreme weather provision during a housing emergency
An accompanying briefing on housing provision in extreme weather makes it clear that doing nothing to improve the situation this year is not an option, with the return of a triage-focused welcome centre the best option in the time available before this winter arrives. The briefing also shows that GHIFT’s findings align with an international evidence review on what works to end rough sleeping, including the effectiveness of shelters.
GHIFT welcomed a shared commitment at the event to work together to do better for people this winter, along with a pledge to preserve people’s existing housing rights, with acknowledgment of the present struggle the city has in meeting these duties.
Glasgow declared a housing emergency in November 2023 and around 30 people are now estimated to sleep rough in the city each night due to a lack of social and affordable housing.
The council is paying millions of pounds to house more than 1,800 people in 40 unsuitable hotels and B&Bs and failed to offer any temporary accommodation 6,320 times between April and September 2024.
Susanne Millar, chief executive, Glasgow City Council, said: “GHIFT were frank about the bad situations they uncovered in their work, and we were frank about the challenges we face and the resources we need to improve the response to homelessness in the city.
“We welcome that honest discussion. Glasgow has long been committed to eradicating use of old-style communal shelters. Over decades we have worked hard to close down unsafe places like the Bellgrove Hotel and create a modernised homelessness system.
“Everyone around the table wanted the same thing, to provide the best service possible to support people in crisis in Glasgow. The evidence GHIFT has gathered will help to inform how the city can move forward to get to that place as quickly as possible.”
GHIFT said: “One of our priorities is housing, not shelters, as a response to rough sleeping in Glasgow. With winter round the corner, we wanted to gather people’s experiences of using shared air shelters and open a conversation with councillors and officers to make sure that this winter, everyone could commit to a safe solution.
“Our investigation shows that people will choose options that feel safe to them, and that shared air shelters are not a safe place to stay. If no alternative can be provided, people are at risk of sleeping rough because what’s currently available just isn’t good enough.
“We want to feel proud of our city, and to know that Glasgow is providing places for people to sleep safe, not rough, would be a step in the right direction.
“We are really pleased with the conversations with the councillors and officials and we’re ready to collaborate with all partners to make sure the voices of people with personal experience of homelessness in Glasgow are kept at the forefront of decisions on winter planning.”
Homeless Network Scotland, who supported the event, said: “Rough s leeping is the last resort for people who have run out of places to turn to, or for people who are unable to stay where they are but don’t know where to go.
“An ideal housing system would rapidly rehouse and support people year-round, without the need for weather-specific measures. But Glasgow, like many other parts of Scotland, currently lacks the houses and funding it needs to make this a reality.
“GHIFT’s guests at the event heard the sobering truth that for some people, having no safe place to go at night in winter is literally a life-or-death situation.
“So we are clear, as are GHIFT: doing nothing is not an option. And the actions we take during the housing emergency are just as important to avoid straying further from the ideal we all aspire to. Without winter provision that prioritises safety, dignity and what works, we risk rising rough sleeping and deepening harm. “If anyone is in doubt about the danger that causes, we recommend reading GHIFT’s report and considering the wider range of evidence that is available to help decision making.”
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