We must do better:
ensuring everyone can sleep safe in winter

Rough sleeping is rising and the pressure from the housing emergency shows no let-up. More and more people are being forced to accept accommodation that is unsafe and strips them of their dignity. It’s bad enough at any time of year but winter brings acute risks to life and health if you don’t have a safe and comfortable place to stay.

During winter 2024-25 too many people had no accommodation or had to sleep in communal night shelters – particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Just a few years after Scotland made big strides towards eradicating rough sleeping during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re going backwards.

The Glasgow Homelessness Involvement and Feedback Team (GHIFT) surveyed and spoke to people using shelters to hear first-hand about what people experienced in the city in winter just gone, and what they prioritise. Find the results of GHIFT’s survey below.

Failure to accommodate someone facing or experiencing homelessness breaches the legal right to accommodation we all share in Scotland. And having to sleep rough means people are also potentially being denied their human rights.

During winter, the Scottish Human Rights Commission highlighted this issue and flagged up plans to create a human rights framework relating to rough sleeping, encompassing the ECHR and international human rights treaties. Read the SHRC’s letter to the Everyone Home Collective.

And read a policy briefing setting out the context around the housing emergency, the impact on people, and recommendations for action that can be taken by local, national and UK governments, plus the 3rd sector and services to improve how people are supported next winter and beyond.