A project that focuses on preventing homelessness has been awarded an additional £150,000, housing minister Margaret Burgess has announced.

The funding investment will go to the five nationwide Housing Options Hubs, led by local authorities, which work together to explore the best ways to prevent homelessness for people who approach them with a housing issue.

Council staff assist households to consider their full range of housing options to address their housing needs. They also receive help with issues such as employability, mental health, money advice and access to family mediation services to help prevent homelessness.

Speaking ahead of today’s Shelter Scotland Homelessness Conference, Mrs Burgess said: “In Scotland, our homelessness legislation provides strong rights for people who become homeless.

“It is far better for our people and our communities, and for our homelessness services, if we can stop people becoming homeless in the first place. That is why the Scottish Government is providing further funding to the Housing Options Hubs in 2016/17.

“This comes on top of the £1 million investment which we have already made to help local authorities and their partners embrace prevention. This approach has seen the number of households who are homeless in Scotland fall year on year.

“We are investing over £1.7 billion to deliver 30,000 affordable homes during the lifetime of this Parliament, working with local authorities to build record numbers of council houses and have abolished the Right to Buy to protect up to 15,500 social homes from sale over the next ten years.

“But we are determined to further increase housing supply, which is why we have set a target of delivering at least 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years.”