More than 50,000 Scots were homeless last Christmas
Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry has today urged the SNP to set out fresh plans to tackle homelessness, as research by his party found that 52,363 people were without a home last Christmas.
A parliamentary question submitted by the party has revealed that on 25th December 2023:
- There were 30,557 live homelessness applications, covering 35,361 adults and 17,002 children - this is an increase of more than 2,000 applications since 2022.
- The local authority with the highest number of homelessness applications was Edinburgh with 6,815 live applications covering 8,276 adults and 4,099 children.
- Other local authorities recording the highest number of homeless individuals were Glasgow (10,908), South Lanarkshire (3,182), Fife (2,722) and West Lothian (2,427).
- It comes as the numbers of people experiencing homelessness and living in temporary accommodation hit record levels in 2023/24.
To tackle homelessness, Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for the Scottish Government to:
- Build more affordable homes to help address homelessness.
- 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 rent 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 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.
Mr McGarry, who was himself made homeless at 16, said:
“At Christmas time, most of us can count on a secure roof over our heads, but tens of thousands of Scots are not so fortunate.
“A lack of availability, skyrocketing prices and poor-quality housing has made life miserable for so many. The SNP have compounded those problems by previously slashing the housing budget by a quarter and failing to build the thousands of homes promised for social rent.
“Homelessness takes a severe toll on people’s mental and physical health. It also sets back children’s development in a way that can leave them worse off for life.
“After almost two decades at the helm, the SNP have failed to make a dent. It’s time to get to work on confronting the housing emergency, getting more houses built, maximising existing stock and giving everyone a safe place to call home.”