Almost 50,000 Scots were homeless last Christmas

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry has today demanded the SNP set out fresh plans to tackle homelessness, as research undertaken by the party revealed that almost 33,000 adults and more than 16,000 children were without a home last Christmas. 

A parliamentary question submitted by the party has revealed that on 25 December 2022: 

• There were 28,154 live homelessness applications, covering 32,749 adults and 16,493 children. This is an increase of 11% on the 25,458 homelessness applications recorded at Christmas 2021. 
• The local authority with the highest number of homelessness applications was Edinburgh with 6,128 live applications covering 7,465 adults and 3,902 children. 
• The other local authorities recording the highest number of homeless individuals were Glasgow (9,394), Fife (3,259), West Lothian (2,634), South Lanarkshire (2,260) and Falkirk (1,907). 

To tackle homelessness, Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for the Scottish Government to: 

• Build 60,000 affordable homes to help address homelessness, including 40,000 for social rent – a more ambitious target than the SNP/Green Government’s target. 
• Offer help to renovate loans to bring derelict homes back into use. 
• Increase the number of homes constructed for social rent and re-establish social renting as a valid long-term option for people. 
• Take forward the Housing First and Rapid Rehousing principles to end rough sleeping and homelessness, by providing both housing and other support services to individuals in need. 
• Address the additional challenges for young homeless people with special pathways to link suitable jobs and training to housing. 
• Bring forward new legislation which would strengthen the duties on public bodies to prevent homelessness. 

Mr McGarry, who was made homeless himself at 16, said: 

“At Christmas time most of us will have the security of a roof over our heads but we now know that tens of thousands of Scots are not so lucky.

“A lack of availability, skyrocketing prices and poor-quality housing are all playing a part in making life miserable for far too many. Temporary council accommodation is stretched to breaking point, pushing people into unstable situations, sofa-surfing or even living on the streets. 

“Children who find themselves homeless this Christmas will have lived their entire lives under an SNP government. The nationalists cannot be trusted to tackle this issue.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to build more homes of every kind, re-establish social renting as a viable option and strengthen our commitment to ending homelessness across Scotland.”