Private rented sector can help tackle homelessness, but only if rents are affordable – Gavin Smith

Some 92 per cent of homes in the private rented sector are unaffordable to people claiming benefits

Homelessness has hit the highest level since records began (Picture: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

You would be hard-pressed to have missed the headlines on homelessness in Scotland in the last few weeks. After a punishing pandemic and the cost-of-living emergency and humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, we are seeing the highest levels of homelessness since records began. While the issues may be more acute in our cities, this is a crisis affecting communities across Scotland.

The latest Scottish Government statistics show:

• 39,000 homeless applications during 2022/23, up nine per cent compared to the previous year, and the highest since records began;
• more households and children than ever in temporary accommodation, up six and nine per cent respectively;
• longer stays in temporary accommodation, now averaging 223 days;
• more local authorities having to resort to the regular and repeated use of unsuitable temporary accommodation;
• and increasing numbers of open cases as people face longer waits to be rehoused, an increase of 15 per cent to 29,652 households in 2022/23.

These shocking numbers give an idea of the pressures faced by local authorities across the country, but every one of those numbers also represents a person or household in a state of uncertainty, not knowing where they might be living in the next days, weeks, or months.

This situation has prompted a report from the Scottish Housing Regulator warning of systemic failure if urgent action is not taken, a report from the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (Alacho), public sector membership body Solace and Cosla highlighting the pressures faced by local authority housing and homelessness services, a joint letter from Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland and Alacho asking the housing minister for urgent clarification on funding for homelessness services, and the City of Edinburgh Council declaring an official housing emergency.

The sector has made it clear that urgent action is needed – business as usual will not suffice. New research commissioned by CIH Scotland and Fife Council published earlier this month added to these calls for action. The research into affordability in the private rented sector shows that 92 per cent of its homes are unaffordable to people claiming benefits. With limited availability in the social rented sector, many people have little option but to turn to the increasingly unaffordable private market.

Our research shows that since the UK Government froze benefits for private renters in 2020, the difference between the amount of financial support that renters can claim, local housing allowance, and the actual cost of renting a home has increased to £108 per month. In Greater Glasgow, tenants face shortfalls of up to £200 per month. Without additional support, renters need to make up this difference from their other income – an increasingly difficult task with the cost of food and other essentials still at an all-time high.

Private rented homes are an important part of our housing sector and provide a place to live for hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland. While social housing remains in short supply, the private sector can play more of a role in preventing homelessness or helping to get people out of temporary accommodation – but to do so, it must be affordable.

We welcomed the UK Government agreeing to reinstate local housing allowance at the 30th percentile – meaning 30 per cent of homes in an area should be affordable to people claiming benefits – in the autumn statement. However, this is only guaranteed for a year. We need to do more to cover the real cost of renting and provide longer-term certainty for people to be able to make the private rented sector their home.

In the longer term, we need to see a more strategic approach to the sector to create more housing choices for people and a route out of temporary accommodation. We don’t just need new rules and regulations, but support for landlords and tenants to realise positive changes through the provision of trusted advice and information, and resources for proactive enforcement. And, above all, we need to keep building social and affordable homes – the best way to ensure that housing costs don’t contribute to poverty and homelessness.

Gavin Smith is chair of Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland and service manager for housing access at Fife Council

Read the research report here.