An update on Homelessness Statistics covering 1 April to 30 September 2024, released today, found there were 16,634 households and 10,360 children in temporary accommodation at 30 September 2024. These are the highest in the time series since 2002 and increases of 6% and 5%, respectively, compared to 15,620 households and 9,855 children at 30 September 2023.

Housing minister Paul McLennan admitted the numbers are “far too high” while CIH Scotland has called for “decisive action” to reverse the trend.

Also over that period, there were 20,823 applications for homelessness assistance and 17,424 households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, increases of 1% (295) and 4% (636) compared with the same six-month period in 2023 respectively.

The number of open cases on 30 September 2024 dropped to 32,272, slightly lower than 32,377 on 30 June 2024 although 6% higher than the 29,856 at 30 September 2023.

A total of 1,785 households reported a household member experiencing rough sleeping in the three months prior to application, and 1,198 the night before. These are increases of 25% and 32%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023.

There was a 4% increase in the number of adults (to 19,894) and a 1% decrease (to 8,063) in the number of children associated with homeless households compared to 2023.

There were also 7,545 instances of households not being offered temporary accommodation. This is a notable increase from 2,000 in 2023. The vast majority of these (6,320) were in Glasgow.

A total of 20,345 cases closed between April and September 2024, an increase of 5% compared to 19,428 in 2023.

The proportion of households who secured settled accommodation having been assessed as unintentionally homeless, and where the outcome was known, was 82%, the same as in 2023.

Ashley Campbell, policy and practice manager at CIH Scotland, said: “Increasing costs and difficult financial circumstances have seen housing supply stagnate across the social and private sector. At the same time, many households are still struggling with the costs of essentials.

“We know that local authorities are working hard alongside housing associations and other partners to prevent homelessness and provide affordable homes for those who need them. We hope that provisions in the Housing Bill on domestic abuse and homelessness prevention can provide further tools to support struggling households in the future. But we also need to see decisive action now, underpinned by resources to tackle this worrying upward trend in homelessness.”

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.”

SFHA chief executive Sally Thomas the statistics are “stark and further underline the scale of the housing emergency”.

She added: “We know that action is being taken, from reversing the budget cut for affordable homes to providing funding for our housing associations to prevent homelessness. Such practical and tangible measures need to continue, not least with a multi-year funding commitment after the UK Spending Review. It’s only through guaranteed long-term funding that housing associations will have the certainty needed to develop at scale and forge a path out of the housing emergency.” 

Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis in Scotland, said: “None of these figures will come as a surprise to anyone working in homelessness services. As the cost of living crisis continues to impact household incomes, more people being forced from their homes, often in circumstances where we know it could have been prevented from happening. That means more children forced to grow up without a safe, secure place to live and more being money spent on emergency responses, while the key causes of homelessness go unresolved.

“These figures show councils are working to help move people out of homelessness and into settled accommodation, but they can’t keep up with growing demand for their help. That has led to growing numbers of people sleeping on the street, more people placed in accommodation that is totally unsuitable for their needs, and more instances of councils failing to meet legal obligations to people forced into homelessness.

“We need a targeted response to stop more people from being forced into the trauma and indignity of homelessness. New budget commitments to invest in social and affordable housing will help do that, but we also urgently need to push forward with plans to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.”

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “The number of homeless people in Scotland and children in temporary accommodation is far too high. However, we are determined to reverse that trend and we are taking decisive action to ensure no one need experience the trauma of being homeless.

“The key to tackling homelessness is delivering more homes and we have a strong track record in doing so having supported the delivery of 135,000 affordable homes since 2007. That’s 47% more per head of population than England and 73% more than Wales.

“However, we can and will go further. The draft Scottish budget for next year includes a £200 million boost to the affordable housing programme, taking our total investment for 2025-26 to £768m. We are working with partners to maximise that investment.

“We are also targeting funding in areas where housing capacity needs to be increased most. This includes £42m to the five local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures to increase supply through buying back properties and bringing long-term empty homes back into use. This is expected to deliver 1,000 more homes.

“The draft Budget will also provide record funding of more than £15 billion to councils in 2025-26 through the local government finance settlement. This funding supports the delivery of a range of services, including homelessness services, enabling local authorities to fulfil their statutory homelessness duties. An additional £4m will also be made available to support local authorities and frontline services to pilot and scale up homelessness prevention best practice across Scotland.”