Scottish Government not doing enough to tackle homelessness, says Shelter Scotland

Alison Watson, the charity’s director, called for ‘significant additional investment’

Picture: Phil Wilkinson

The director of housing charity Shelter Scotland has accused the Scottish Government of not doing enough to tackle record levels of homelessness.

Alison Watson said “significant additional investment” is needed in the face of an “extraordinary situation”.

She made the comments as she visited a supported accommodation facility in Glenrothes with First Minister Humza Yousaf and SNP housing minister Paul McLennan.

First Minister Humza Yousaf (right) meets staff and residents during a visit to Gilven House supported accommodation facility in Glenrothes, Fife

The Government was announcing that at least £60 million of funding will be used to support a national acquisition plan to increase the supply of social and affordable housing. This will support councils and registered social landlords to purchase properties including empty homes and private sector properties.

The measure follows recommendations made by the Government’s temporary accommodation task and finish group, which was chaired by Ms Watson and John Mills, the co-chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers.

Ms Watson said the plans were the “first step in the right direction” but “must not be the last”. Speaking to journalists at Glenliven House in Glenrothes, she said: "I think what we heard from the First Minister today was him making a personal commitment to ending Scotland's housing emergency. My worry is what has been announced today hasn't gone far enough.

"There are no new targets, there's no confirmation of new money. The national acquisition plan at the centre of these proposals - [there's] a very limited role for the Scottish Government in that.

"And I think there's a real concern from me about the burden falling back on to local authorities. We know local authorities are already overstretched, they're underfunded, they're struggling to deal with what's already coming to them.

"We're in an extraordinary situation. There's a housing emergency in Scotland, and this was a time when we needed an extraordinary response, and I'm not sure we got that."

Ms Watson said there is a record number of unresolved homelessness cases in Scotland, and a record number of children in temporary accommodation.

She added: "At the end of the day, it's really difficult to see a success story out of this unless there's significant additional investment, and that's not what we've heard today. So I think there's a sense of business as usual, rather than an extraordinary response."

The Scottish Government said other measures to reduce temporary accommodation will include working with social landlords to increase allocations to homeless households, as well as providing national guidance for local authorities to support good practice around changing temporary accommodation into permanent affordable homes. It said bespoke plans will be developed with those councils experiencing the greatest pressures, such as Edinburgh.

In 2022, 13,945 people across Scotland lived in temporary accommodation.

Mr Yousaf said: “Housing is crucial to achieving our aspirations of a fairer country. We recognise the varying challenges that exist across Scotland and that these cannot be addressed by a single solution. That is why the range of actions we will be taking, including our £60 million plan, will help us effect real change.

“A great deal of consideration has been given to the best way to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation. I am thankful to members of the temporary accommodation task and finish group and all its contributors for the role they played in shaping the final recommendations.”

Mr Mills said: “We’re heartened by the Scottish Government’s recognition of the seriousness of the current situation, the damage that is being done to many families living in temporary accommodation for long periods and the increasing challenges councils are facing in meeting their needs. We’re particularly pleased by the commitment to a national acquisitions programme to bring more homes into social renting quickly and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government, Cosla and Shelter Scotland to recapture the momentum towards ending homeless that we had pre-pandemic.”

Mr McLennan insisted the announcement was the start of a wider programme. He said: “This is a start, I think it’s a good start, but there is much more to be done in that. We need to be building more social housing. We can look at other things like empty homes, there are 30-40,000 empty homes across Scotland right now. We can try and bring the figures down pretty quickly.”

Elsewhere, Mr Yousaf was asked about Angus MacNeil, the MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, who was suspended by the SNP after not taking up an offer to rejoin the party’s Westminster group. Mr MacNeil had the whip removed for a week after clashing with the SNP’s chief whip, Brendan O'Hara. He then announced he would sit as an independent MP until at least October, and launched an attack on the SNP’s leadership for being "utterly clueless about how to pursue independence".

Mr Yousaf said: "What I've said about Angus very clearly is he will operate under the same standing orders as any elected parliamentarian. He will be treated in exactly the same way.

"But it is not for Angus Brendan MacNeil to decide whether he rejoins the SNP group or not. He was elected as an SNP MP by his constituents. To me, it's not acceptable that he decides not to join the SNP group, when that is how he was elected by his constituents.

"So there is a breach there of the standing orders, and as has already been made public, there will be an examination of his case by the member conduct committee, so those processes will just have to play out."