Preventing Homelessness

A report by the Scottish Government’s Prevention Task and Finish Group, co-chaired by Crisis and the Cyrenians, was published this week. It provides an outline of the work needed to achieve the potential of proposals for Homeless Prevention Duties for Public Bodies. Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This comes two days after figures on homelessness published by the Scottish Government on Tuesday showed a worrying increase in the number of homeless households during 2022-23.

The Government figures show that the number of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness increased by 2, 903 (10%) and there were 15,039 households in temporary accommodation, an increase of 6%. The number of children in temporary accommodation has also increased to 9,595 in March 2023 (9%) and these numbers remain stubbornly higher than pre pandemic levels. Although rough sleeping is lower than pre pandemic levels, more households are reporting rough sleeping.

Whilst the Scottish Government recently published a response to a report by the Task and Finish group on temporary accommodation outlining some short term actions, there are concerns across the sector that not enough is being done to ensure that enough social homes are acquired and built to reduce the numbers of households in temporary accommodation.

In addition, the report published outlines the need for resources to support a range of actions needed to ensure that the potential of a truly preventative approach to tackling homelessness is realised.

The report outlines some key messages including:

Cross-sector culture change and leadership is required so that homelessness prevention is seen as everyone’s business
No-one should experience homelessness after leaving the support of any public body
Public bodies should be fully supported and resourced to enable workforce development and training

Social housing must continue to be built, acquired and updated

We have supported the work of the task and finish group and with the Scottish Government and key partners are trying to find ways to resolve the homelessness crisis and to reduce the numbers of households in temporary accommodation.

Ultimately we need more social homes, more support for those households who need it and we must remain focussed on preventing homelessness happening in the first place through early intervention and prevention. The current homelessness statistics demonstrate how important it is to maintain these priorities.

Sally Thomas, CEO, SFHA said “It’s everyone’s right to live in a safe, warm, affordable home, but for many people in Scotland, this is just not the reality.

“Housing associations and co-operatives are fully supportive of efforts to end homelessness, already make a significant contribution in doing so and will do more where they can. We are working with Scottish Government to try to find ways of getting people into permanent accommodation more quickly: however, fundamentally, this is a problem of supply. Scotland is not on track to deliver the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, and urgent, significant action is needed.

“Furthermore, we must remain focused on preventing homelessness through early intervention and prevention, working with and across all levels of government to make sure people have a home, as well as any specific support they might need to sustain it”.