Increasing housing supply and reducing temporary accommodation use
A range of measures have been taken by the Scottish Government to increase investment in housebuilding and help reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation since declaring a housing emergency last year.
Actions taken in the last year include:
Investing £600 million in affordable housing in 2024/25. £40 million of which was used to purchase properties and bring empty social homes back into use.
Helping to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation in 12 council areas, according to the latest figures.
Making an additional £1 million available to Registered Social Landlords and third sector organisations to prevent homelessness and support people to stay in rented accommodation.
Boosting supply through other funding models, including the Charitable Bonds programme which has seen investment of £46m in the past year, supporting the delivery of 325 homes.
We are committed to tackling the housing emergency.
Since declaring a housing emergency last year, we are taking action to ensure more people can access warm, safe and affordable homes.
Further action will be taken in the coming year to continue to tackle the housing emergency and ensure more people can access a safe and affordable home, including:
Investing £768 million in this financial year in affordable housing, which will support the delivery of 8,000 homes for social and mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership.
Providing local authorities with £15 billion this financial year for a range of services, including in homelessness services.
£2 million invested through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership to continue to reduce the number of privately owned empty homes.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Providing everyone in Scotland the right to a warm, safe and affordable home is essential to our key priority of eradicating child poverty.The measures we have taken have meant increased investment in the affordable housing sector and fewer families living in temporary accommodation.
“As a result of our actions, an estimated more than 2,600 households with children have been helped into affordable housing in the year up to December 2024.
“We have delivered 136,000 affordable homes, with 97,000 of those for social rent, between 2007 and the end of December 2024. We are also working to identify and turn around empty private and social homes and encouraging more funding streams into the sector through our Housing Investment Taskforce.
“It is encouraging that we are seeing a reduction in families in temporary accommodation in some local authority areas. However, we know there is more to do which is why we have increased the affordable housing budget for this financial year by £200 million to £768 million.
“In the longer term we will also introduce homelessness prevention measures and a system of long-term rent controls in our Housing Bill.
“We are determined to tackle the housing emergency and ensure that everyone in Scotland can have somewhere to call home.”
A national action plan must be developed to tackle the housing emergency to avoid the risk the crisis “drifts on indefinitely”, according to a new report published by a Scottish Parliament Committee.
A year on from the official declaration of the national housing emergency by the Scottish Parliament, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee say a Housing Emergency Action Plan with clear milestones and outcomes would ensure progress towards ending the crisis can be properly assessed.
It is one of ten recommendations for the Scottish Government made in the Committee’s Housing Inquiry Report.
Other recommendations include, that the Scottish Government should:
As a matter of urgency, complete and implement its review of the affordable housing target (due summer 2024), provide an update on what progress has been made, and what the revised timescales are for completion
Provide clarity on whether its additional funding for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget will ensure that it meets its target of providing 110,000 affordable homes by 2030
Explore further the opportunities presented by increasing social investment in housing and in developing the capacity of the non-profit sector to obtain private finance
The Committee launched its inquiry last year, hearing from professionals working in the housing industry, local authorities, academics, homeless charities, tenants and landlords.
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP, said:“It’s now a year since the Scottish Parliament officially declared a national housing emergency and homelessness remains dangerously high in some areas where there is now a systemic failure in the ability of local authorities to meet their statutory duties.
“During this Inquiry, we heard that the housing emergency was years, even decades, in the making and was therefore both predictable and preventable.
“We can’t afford to be complacent. The Scottish Government must work with the wider housing sector to take urgent collective action to address the emergency and ensure all its departments and policies are having a measurable, clear and positive impact.”
The Committee also took evidence from the Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan, including on the Scottish Government’s Housing 2040 strategy – and is calling for an implementation plan of that policy to be developed as a matter of urgency.
It also made a further recommendation that housing providers are given urgent clarity on the intended legal requirements for homes to meet net zero standards.
The Scottish Government is expected to respond to the report within two months.
Scotland’s housing emergency now impacting 2.3 million adults, Shelter Scotland warns
Over four in 10 adults in Scotland are now impacted by the housing emergency (42%), an increase of 800,000 in just four years (up six percentage points from 36% in 2021), our new research has revealed.
Marking one year since the Scottish Parliament officially declared a housing emergency, a new poll conducted by YouGov exposes the deepening scale of the emergency. It found that 2.3 million adults in Scotland (42 per cent) are struggling with the condition, security, suitability or affordability of their home, or have faced discrimination while trying to find one. *
This comes less than a year before the next Scottish Parliamentary election. Shelter Scotland warns that political leaders have so far failed to deliver meaningful solutions to address the worsening housing emergency.
As it launches its new strategy, Shelter Scotland is setting the goal of making next year’s Scottish election an election to end the housing emergency. The charity is calling on every voter in Scotland to join the fight for home and demand that politicians of all parties focus on building enough homes.
Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said:“It’s been a year since the Scottish Parliament declared a housing emergency. Since then, homelessness has gone up and social housebuilding has gone down.
“Last week the Scottish Government announced a Programme for Government with no plan to end the housing emergency. Instead, we had a Programme for Homelessness which says nothing about the 10,360 children are trapped in temporary accommodation which experts say exposes them to violence, vermin and isolation. This simply cannot continue into the next government.
“Everyone deserves a safe, secure home. But too many people in Scotland still live in fear — battling unaffordable rents, unsuitable housing, or outright discrimination.
“Today’s research reveals the harsh toll Scotland’s housing emergency has taken over the last four years – and it’s only getting worse.”
She added: “We want people to arm themselves with the knowledge of their housing rights. Scotland has some of the strongest housing legislation, but local authorities and the government need to comply to the law.
“This continued harm cannot be the norm. It’s time to say: enough is enough. The Scottish Government must urgently publish an updated housing emergency action plan. We need more social homes so the hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland no longer have to compromise their health, safety and education.”
Chelsea’s Story
Chelsea [33] has been in the homeless system since the start of 2023. After being placed in mould ridden temporary accommodation with her three children aged seven months, two, and eight years old, she had no choice but to leave it, fearing it was harming her children’s health.
She was placed in a hotel in the centre of Glasgow for a month where they had no cooking facilities and were cramped in one room.
Chelsea said:“It is a worry when I think about getting a forever home for my children. Whenever I speak to the housing officers, they keep telling me we’re in a housing emergency. People can’t carry on like this. Something has to give.”
Chelsea explained how her children were complaining of headaches and getting nose bleeds, which she worries was from the mould and damp conditions from the temporary accommodation.
“Me and my three children were placed into a hotel room in Glasgow’s city centre. It was horrendous! Three of us were living in just one room with no facilities.
“I had to wash baby bottles in the sink. There was nowhere to cook, no plates to eat food from, so every day we had to eat out. It is financially unstable. The council took our clothes to the laundrette but returned them still wet.
“The bed sheets were stained with blood. It was disgusting. We were in the middle of Glasgow and really felt unsafe.
“It’s had a horrific impact on my children, and I worry about the future impact on them. My son has significant neurodevelopmental issues; he has additional needs and he’s been out of school for three months. His school wouldn’t pay for a taxi from Glasgow city centre to his school. They wouldn’t facilitate him.
“The Government needs to do something. Something has to give. People are trapped and disabled children and women are suffering.”
A record breaking (and heart-breaking – Ed.) 10,360 children are trapped in often unsuitable temporary accommodation, latest figures from the Scottish Government has revealed.
The number of children in temporary homes has risen for the 10th year* as figures detail the stark reality for thousands of families across Scotland. The statistics cover from 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024 – during which time the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency.
It is a national scandal that 7,545 households have been stripped of their rights in only six months, as councils failed to offer a place to those requiring temporary accommodation, also known as gatekeeping.
While Shelter Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government reversing the cuts for housing, it must be clear that funding has returned to the same level as it was in 2022.
The latest figures show:
– 10,360 children living in temporary accommodation on 30 September 2024, an increase of 250 children compared to the previous six months. That’s an increase of 149% since 2014. – 7,545 instances of failure to offer a place to a household requiring temporary accommodation, also known as gatekeeping, between 1 April to 30 September 2024. This an increase of 277% in just 6 months or 3.8 x higher. In the 12-month period to September 2024 gatekeeping was at 13,500 recorded cases, a 541% increase compared to the year prior. – 4,085 breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order between 1 April and 30 September 2024 – a 11% increase compared to the previous six months. – 16,634 households in temporary accommodation as of 30 September 2024 an increase from 16,330 – 32,272 live homeless cases as of 30 September 2024 an increase from 31,794.
Shelter Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government’s renewed housing budget to focus on reducing the number of children trapped in temporary accommodation, and to ensure local services are fully funded to ensure lifeline housing rights are upheld.
This comes at a time when wider cuts in the public services may push more people closer to the brink of homelessness.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “This is the harrowing reality of decades of under-investment in social housing. No child should have to experience homelessness, yet the numbers keep rising to a record-breaking amount and are now staying in temporary accommodation for longer.
“These figures show the direct consequence of the Scottish Government and local authorities failing to prioritise housing and the desperate need for more social homes.
“Everyone deserves the right to be in a safe and secure permanent home where children can thrive. We know children living in unsuitable temporary accommodation can have their mental and physical health detrimentally impacted.
“Children are paying the highest price for the politicians’ failures and the devastating reality of the housing emergency in Scotland. If the Scottish Government is serious about ending child poverty with their new budget, social homes need to be urgently delivered.
“The Scottish Government reversed the brutal cuts to housing, but it needs to acknowledge it brings us to the same amount of funding that we had in 2022. Since then, the number of people living in temporary homes has risen, people are trapped in the system for longer, the number of people rough sleeping has increased dramatically, and the cost of living has skyrocketed.
“The reversal alone will not be enough to end homelessness and there desperately needs to be a long-term plan from politicians, targeting money to the areas where it is most needed.
She added: “The way people are experiencing homelessness is changing with more people becoming homeless and faster than councils can close cases. The Scottish Government need to invest in the areas where applications are the highest. Services to support families at risk of homelessness also desperately need funding from local authorities.
“Children in Scotland forced to live in temporary homes don’t need excuses, they need action if the Scottish Government want to end child poverty in their next budget.”
On 27 November 2024, North Edinburgh Parents Action Group met Edinburgh Council’s Senior Housing Staff including the chair of the housing committee for the second time.
Cases shared with the director of housing
As a result of the group’s work e.g. producing a report, launching an exhibition and organising meetings with senior housing staff, the director of housing requested that the details of all people involved in this project be sent to him so that they could try to resolve all these issues and learn from this. The group felt that the managers listened to the issues and are trying to understand what is going wrong.
Change is possible
22 cases were sent to the director of housing and his team in October and November. There have been some successes;
some people have been rehoused
some work on repairs and some dampness issues have been addressed
families have been provided with support.
More needs done
There is still much more work to be done and the group are waiting on a detailed update from the director of housing regarding all the outstanding work. This should be completed by the next meeting with the parents at the end of February.
Suspension of EdIndex
The group are concerned about the suspension of EdIndex and non-urgent repairs and feel this is going to make the situation even worse. The group are also concerned that there are not enough larger houses being built at the waterfront and not enough houses for social rent. Many of these new houses will be out of local people’s reach.
The group heard that no council properties are going to be advertised until 7 Jan 2024 or later. This is due to the council putting homeless families in unlicensed (illegal) accommodation. The council need to move these families into long term empty houses (voids) with minimum work done to them apart from minimum Health and Safety checks.
Use Tourist Tax (Visitor Levy) to invest in Housing
The group believe that the tourist tax should be spent on housing where it is most needed (the consultation on the tourist tax ends on 13 December).
Th group told the senior managers that they plan to:
raise this issue with the Minister for Housing at the Scottish Parliament
explore group legal action as a last resort
invite senior managers and the chair of housing to a third meeting at the end of February 2025
Sara, a group member said: “We are serious about keeping up the pressure on the council to ensure people have a safe, warm, damp free home to live in.
Some options that the group are considering include going to the media to highlight people’s stories, taking the campaign to the Scottish Parliament, and contacting a law firm about the possibility of a group action.”
Housing Minister Paul McLennan visited an affordable housing development in East Lothian to highlight plans in the draft Budget for next year to increase funding for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
The investment could see the total budget for delivering affordable homes rise to £768 million in 2025-26 – an increase of more than £200 million compared to this year’s published budget.
Other measures in the Scottish Government’s draft Budget aimed at tackling the housing emergency include:
£4 million to support local authorities and frontline services to prevent homelessness
£2 million to transform empty properties into safe, warm, affordable homes
In addition, £1 million for registered social landlords and third sector partners will be available this year to fund work to help sustain tenancies and prevent homelessness.
Speaking during his visit to the development in Haddington, Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “Investing in safe, warm and affordable homes is key to our top priority to tackle child poverty.
“We already have a strong track record in affordable housing, having supported the delivery of 133,000 affordable homes since 2007 – this includes our £2.9 million investment in the development at Haddington. That’s 45% more per head of the population than in England and 70% more than in Wales.
“By increasing the affordable housing supply budget in 2025-26 by more than £200 million, housing providers will be able to deliver at least 8,000 properties for social and mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership.”
Councillor Andy Forrest, East Lothian Council spokesperson for Housing, said: “It was really useful to welcome the Minister to Haddington this morning to discuss East Lothian’s recently announced Affordable Housing Crisis and to emphasise the need for clarity as soon as possible on what our settlement will be so that we can continue to sustain our hugely important future housing programme.
“We welcome the announcement of more subsidy funding for affordable housing and any additional revenue for frontline services to help prevent homelessness.”
This includes 96 homes for social rent by Harbour Homes and 130 properties for mid market rent by Harbour Lettings. The remaining 80 properties are social rent homes provided by Cairn Housing Association.
A seven-bedroom independent living home and office space with an adjoining one-bedroom flat has also been opened by Dean and Cauvin Young People’s Trust to support people in the care system.
Dean and Cauvin provide accommodation for young people (from ages 15-21) as well as supporting their transition to living independently.
Following an event for new tenants to meet each other and find out more about what’s happening in the community, Heather Kiteley, Chief Executive of Harbour Homes, said: “Everyone at Harbour is very proud of the many years of hard work and dedication which has gone into creating these fantastic new homes.
“With brilliant communal gardens and courtyards, breath-taking views over the Firth of Forth and great public transport links to the city, I know our tenants will be happy in their new homes and will play a part in the new communities which are flourishing along Granton’s waterfront.
“It was a joy to work with Cairn and other partners to make this ambitious project a reality.”
Audrey Simpson, Cairn’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Harbour Homes and other key stakeholders to bring much-needed affordable housing to Granton.
“These new homes are a testament to what can be achieved when organisations work together with a shared vision. Thanks to Harbour Homes and to everyone involved for their dedication and hard work. We are confident that our new tenants will thrive in this vibrant community.”
Councillor Jane Meagher, Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “Edinburgh’s council housing stock was devastated by the Right to Buy policy meaning only 14% of homes in our city today are social housing, compared to a Scottish average of 23%.
“We desperately need to work on reversing this trend as we work with developers and social landlords to tackle our city’s Housing Emergency.
“At Granton Harbour, there has been an impressive effort to create over 300 new affordable homes in total, almost 60% of which will be for social rent. Hundreds of people are now moving into good quality and genuinely affordable housing as a result, which is well worth celebrating”
Scotland’s housing professionals are coming together this week for the country’s biggest housing event as its professional body is ready to announce a housing emergency.
With three local authorities (Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh and Glasgow) having declared a housing emergency, and up to a dozen on the brink of doing so, Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland will set out its call that Scotland has moved past a housing crisis and is in the midst of a housing emergency.
This call from CIH Scotland comes the week after the Scottish Government cut the affordable housing supply budget by £196 million and new homeless figures show over 30,000 open homelessness cases, a 10% rise on figures 12 months ago.
CIH Scotland national director, Callum Chomczuk, said: “Scotland is the midst of a housing emergency, and we need a political response.
“We want to see the UK budget on Wednesday provide increased spending, increased capital spending and clarity over future Financial Transaction allocations, which would mean more funding could be provided for affordable housing in the coming year.
“However, we also want to see the Scottish government prioritise the delivery and building of affordable housing. We want to see the affordable housing budget front loaded so social landlords can keep building, as it is always going to cheaper to build today than it is tomorrow.
“The Scottish budget last week fell far short of what the sector has been asking for, but it is never too late to invest in people, invest in communities and invest in social housing. We need an emergency plan and funding for delivering the social homes Scotland needs.”
Callum’s comments and the declaration of a housing emergency are expected at today’s opening session of the two-day Housing Festival which brings together around 800 housing professionals, speakers, and exhibitors at the SEC in Glasgow to discuss the latest issues, challenges, and solutions for the sector.
Day two of the conference begins with a breakfast general election hustings session giving the housing sector a chance to hear the priorities of each of the five main political parties and ask questions about how they seek to support the housing sector.
Later that morning the housing minister is expected to discuss the Housing Bill and Housing to 2024. Providing another opportunity for lively debate as housing professionals ask questions of the minister and provide feedback on the current status of housing in Scotland.
The actions are based on wide engagement with our partner organisations and Councillors, including 14 engagement workshops which helped identify key priorities.
The measures outlined in the Housing Emergency Action Plan are expected to reduce the number of households in Edinburgh without settled accommodation.
They include:
Reviewing the Allocation Policy for Council Homes to ensure it continues to enable fair access to housing, including consideration of protected characteristics, such as gender.
Improve the standard of repairs and repairs response for Council housing.
Ensure all relevant and appropriate partners are included and supported to resolve the housing emergency.
Improve the relationship between housing officer and tenant, ensuring local housing staff are visible in their localities and available to meet tenants where and when this is required.
It comes as the Council agreed to introduce a 7% rent rise for tenants over 10 years at the Full Council meeting on Thursday 22 February. In an effort to tackle the city’s housing crisis, the increase could raise around £2bn.
Around 80% of tenants in Edinburgh receive assistance with their rent in the form of housing benefits or Universal Credit. The council intends to extend its Tenant Hardship Fund to support households who aren’t entitled to this support to access funding if they struggle to afford an increase in rent.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Jane Meagher said: “It’s so important that we take drastic action to protect the most vulnerable people in our city before it’s too late. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has led to a demand for temporary accommodation in Edinburgh which far outstrips supply.
“Having a safe, comfortable home is a basic human right so we’re determined to do everything within our means to put an end to this housing emergency.
“The measures outlined in the Action Plan, along with the 7% rent rise which will allow us to repair, upgrade, and retrofit housing and to build and buy much needed social and affordable housing, go a long way in tackling the crisis. However, the reality is that we can only act within the financial limitations of being the lowest funded local authority in Scotland.
“We need a concerted and co-ordinated response, and my thanks go to our partners who have shown support from the day we declared the housing emergency. It gives me great confidence that we can work together to improve the situation, but we can’t do it alone.
“We need more support from the Scottish Government to end the crisis once and for all. Their decision to slash nearly £200m from the affordable housing budget comes at a time when we need vital funding now more than ever. I won’t stop fighting for fairer funding.”
Delivering more social homes is the only way to end Edinburgh’s housing emergency according to a leading housing charity.
Speaking at a housing summit hosted by the Edinburgh Futures Institute, Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said investing in social homes would be vital in fixing the city’s broken housing system.
The summit comes just a day after new figures revealed that 1,525 children in Edinburgh are living in temporary accommodation, the highest number on record and more than any other local authority in Scotland.
The same figures also showed an increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation, the number of open homeless applications, and the number of breaches of the unsuitable accommodation order in Edinburgh.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said:“Record numbers of children in Edinburgh have nowhere to call home, rents are out of control, resource starved local services can’t cope and so people’s housing rights are being breached, the law is being broken, with alarming regularity.
“Undoubtedly the root cause of Edinburgh’s housing emergency is a chronic shortage of social housing. Addressing that shortfall is the only way to fix the capital’s utterly broken housing system.
“Only yesterday the Scottish Government has pressed ahead with brutal cuts to the housing budget – a choice which is set to make the situation much worse.
“Our politicians need to understand that you can’t slash funding for social housing then expect those who live in the capital to take you seriously when you say you’re committed to tackling Edinburgh’s housing emergency.”
Just before Scottish Ministers slashed Scotland’s affordable homes budget by 26 per cent, Glasgow last month (November 30) became the latest major local authority in Scotland to declare a “housing emergency”, following the lead of Edinburgh and citing “unprecedented pressures” facing the council’s services (writes RICCARDO GIOVANACCI).
While of course there is a political element to these dramatic gestures – Labour-led Edinburgh is blaming Holyrood and SNP-led Glasgow is pointing the finger at Westminster – the declarations are a sure sign that the housing market isn’t working and that something needs to be done.
New statistics just released (December 13) show that the country’s housing crisis is intensifying, with plummeting numbers of both new starts and completions. Starts were down 24%, meaning that the crisis will only become more acute in years to come.
In more pragmatic times, before the private rental sector became public enemy No 1 in the eyes of some of the country’s more radical politicians, private landlords would have stepped into this breach and filled the gap between supply and demand.
They would have done this by bringing properties to market which would have accommodated a fluid and flexible population of tenants at rents they could afford until they found homes of their own or longer-term social rentals which suited their needs.
Now, however, many of the landlords who might previously have provided this service are abandoning the market, driven out by increasingly punitive legislation, fewer tax breaks, rent controls and the mora attractive market of holiday let sites such as Airbnb.
Is this sea change factored in to the concept of a housing emergency in the City Chambers of our great cities? There is little evidence to suggest that it is. Instead, councillors, single-issue charities and NGOs focus exclusively on the perceived plight of tenants. There is a marked lack of balance in current political thinking.
There does not appear to be much in the way of appreciation that elements such as the cost of living, rents, running costs, disposable income and inflation impact on landlords as well as the people for whom they are providing a roof over their heads.
Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie was told in April this year by delegates at the Scottish Property Federation that rent control legislation he introduced the previous year had led to investors pulling millions of pounds out of Scotland.
Despite such warnings, the word on the street is that the Scottish Government is considering making the temporary restriction imposed on rent increases to help with the cost of living into a permanent rent control.
It is all very well to criticise others for inaction or for incomprehension of the seriousness of the situation, but what can realistically be done to help alleviate this escalating crisis?
Here are five suggestions which might go some way to help:
The overall tax burden on landlords needs addressed. They are currently taxed full amount and there needs to be a reward to encourage further investment, since the activity is by no means risk-free. There is nothing at the moment withing the tax regime to encourage participants into the sector.
Landlords should be treated with respect, rather than the current disdain. They are responsible grown-ups who want happy tenants. Longer-term lets are in everybody’s interest.
There is no reason not to keep regulation as it is. Landlords have factored the current regime in. But upcoming legislation needs more balance, as it is too heavily weighted in favour of tenants at the moment.
Rent caps are not working and experts said they wouldn’t work. The Government and other interested parties should listen to advice from professionals when it is asked for.
Career advice for young people to consider the trades as a career to improve housing stock in long term.
These are simply suggestions, but the more the parties involved in Scotland’s housing market can work together, rather than against each other, the more likely it is that the current and future crises will ease.
Riccardo Giovanacci is Managing Director at Glasgow-based Rosevale Letting.
