Plans to reduce temporary accommodation not enough, says housing charity

A housing charity has queried whether £60 million funding announced by the Scottish Government to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation will be enough to make the radical change needed.

First Minister Humza Yousaf joined service users at supported accommodation in Glenrothes, Fife, on Wednesday and listened to stories from women who have experienced homelessness.

Alison Watson, from housing and homelessness charity Shelter, said Scotland was facing a “housing emergency that is ruining lives”.

They will also look at other measures to reduce the use of temporary accommodation, including working with social landlords to increase allocations to homeless households.

Mr Yousaf said: “The range of actions we will be taking, including our £60 million plan, will help us effect real change.

“A great deal of consideration has been given to the best way to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation.

In 2022, 13,945 people across Scotland lived in temporary accommodation.

But Ms Watson said there was a “sense of business as usual” regarding the announcement.

Speaking to journalists at Glenliven House in Glenrothes she said: “We haven’t heard enough today to feel confident that there’s going to be enough of a change that we’re going to see that go faster and make that difference.

“At the end of the day, that potentially means more people getting stuck in temporary accommodation rather than lifting those people and giving them a start in life.”

Housing minister Paul McLennan insisted that Wednesday’s announcement was the start of a wider programme.

He said: “This is a start, I think it’s a good start, but there is much more to be done in that.

“We need to be building more social housing.

“We can look at other things like empty homes, there are 30-40,000 empty homes across Scotland right now.

“We can try and bring the figures down pretty quickly.”