Housing minister Kevin Stewart calls for end to 'ghettoisation' of homeless people

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has welcomed support for plans to ensure no homeless people are placed in B&B accommodation for longer than a week.
Housing minister Kevin StewartHousing minister Kevin Stewart
Housing minister Kevin Stewart

A consultation found backing for extending the ban on the use of temporary accommodation - which currently applies to families with children and pregnant women - to all those needing somewhere to stay.

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He commented as the Scottish Government published the results of its consultation, which looked at the use of temporary accommodation for homeless people.

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Extending the ban on using this form of accommodation for any longer than a week could help "end the ghettoisation of homeless households", some of those who answered the consultation said.

They said such a move would provide for a "parity of rights among people who are homeless".

Mr Stewart said: "While temporary accommodation can offer an important emergency safety net for anyone who finds themselves homeless with nowhere else to go, it should be a purely temporary measure.

"These consultation responses support Scottish Government proposals to prevent anyone from living in unsuitable temporary accommodation for longer than seven days.

"From May 2021, this new legislation, a UK first, will ensure people are moved into a more appropriate, permanent home as soon as possible."

The minister added: "The consultation also demonstrated strong support for a set of legally enforceable standards, which people with experience of homelessness told us would help improve safety and standards by raising problems or issues around temporary accommodation."