The charity said it has anecdotal reports of working people being told they cannot afford the rent for homeless accommodation or being advised not to seek work until they are in a permanent home.

“We do not believe that this is fair for anyone and it seems to go against all existing guidance for working with people experiencing homelessness,” it added. “Nobody in paid work should be over-charged for homeless accommodation.”

“Current practice within homelessness services in Scotland make it almost impossible for someone in paid work to access homeless services due to the inflated rental charge. Where someone is in employment and presents as homeless their rental charge should be at the same rate as any other council or RSL housing. This is what the legislation states, yet many working people report that ‘they are told they cannot afford to pay the rent’ of the homeless accommodation that is available.”

In order to fix a problem, the charity said it needs to know what the problem is so it is asking for people to participate in a brief survey.

Homeless Action Scotland said: “We want to know what your experience of the issue has been - both the negative and the positive - so that we can identify how much of a problem this is across Scotland - and to find a solution.

“Please be assured that anything you tell us will remain anonymous. We encourage you to share this survey with your colleagues.”

The survey will run until December 17 and preliminary findings will be unveiled on or around December 22.

There is an option to participate further within the survey should you be interested.

If you have any questions or case studies, please contact engagement and communications manager, Garry Burns by email at garry@homelessactionscotland.org.uk.