The Housing Bill has arrived

Maeve McGoldrick, Head of Policy and Communications Scotland

28.03.2024

At last, the long-awaited Housing (Scotland) Bill has arrived….

At Crisis we have been calling for the Scottish Government to introduce new legal duties for councils and other public services to prevent people from becoming homeless for years. It is amazing to finally see the Bill introduced to parliament.

What is it?

In practice, this could mean that someone who has unstable housing could go to their council for help much earlier on, but they could also get help from places like hospitals, schools, the police, even their own housing association.

We know that helping people early, when their housing situation is unstable, is critical – yet all too often people are only able to access support when it’s too late to prevent their homelessness. Building more truly affordable homes will always be an absolute must, but stronger prevention work is also crucial to ensuring as many people as possible avoid the trauma and indignity of becoming homeless.

Why is the Housing Bill needed?

Yesterday, the Scottish Government finally published the Bill. There’s lots in it, but one main area introduces new laws that will requires councils and other public services to act earlier, helping people with unstable housing where there is a risk someone could become homeless.

These new laws are much needed as homelessness across Scotland rises. Sadly, we are seeing more and more people, including children, stuck living in temporary, and often highly unsuitable, accommodation. We are seeing more people returning to the streets, with no place to go as even temporary accommodations places become full. Councils are themselves declaring housing emergencies as the homeless system is creaking under the pressure, and the numbers of people in the system needing support is only getting bigger. Offering people help much earlier on is essential and this new Bill has never been needed more.

But we need your help…

Despite campaigning for several years for government to introduce a new Bill that includes prevention duties, our work is not done yet. For us, success is when homeless prevention services are being delivered across the country, to a high standard - and able to meet housing need across Scotland.

We want to reverse the rising tide of homelessness before it becomes ingrained. This means we need these new laws to be as robust as possible, with the money made available for public services to do the job properly, and it means making sure new prevention duties work effectively alongside existing homelessness duties, so councils act early and that people have a positive housing outcome by engaging earlier with available support.

Laws by themselves won’t bring about the change we want to see, but they can be a really strong foundation for making this happen. Join us as we campaign on this Bill to produce strong, and properly funded, new homelessness prevention legislation for Scotland.

The Bill may have arrived, but the hard work has only just begun! We need your help. Join us now and help us make Scotland a world leader on preventing homelessness for good.