The director of housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, Graeme Brown, has raised concerns over the future sustainability of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) after new figures revealed that the average value of payments made via the scheme has increased by more than 25%.

The DHP scheme provides financial assistance towards housing costs for those claiming housing benefit.

New statistics revealed that during the period 1 April to 30 September 2017, local authorities in Scotland made nearly 98,000 awards with a total value of £52.6 million and an average award of £537.

The total value of DHP awards spent or committed so far for 2017/18 represents 90% of the total estimated funding of £58.5m for the period. At the same point last year, it was estimated that local authorities had spent or committed 88% of their £50.2m funding for 2016/17.

Commenting on the statistics, Graeme Brown said: “An increase of more than 25% (£110) in the average value of discretionary housing payments is alarming and a sign of the depth of the growing challenge faced by so many households struggling to make ends meet across Scotland.

“It is very worrying that there were almost 100,000 DHP awards made in the six months to September this year. Set against the backdrop of stagnant wages, welfare reform, problems with Universal Credit roll-out and inflation starting to creep up, we are concerned that not only will those already struggling continue to find it tough, but more and more people will get into difficulty.

“We are concerned that if the level of funding required for DHPs continues to grow, it could become unsustainable in the long-run.”

Graeme Brown added: “Anyone who finds they are beginning to struggle with housing costs should seek help and advice sooner rather than later before their problems turn into a full-blown crisis. People can visit shelterscotland.org/getadvice for expert help and support.”