Crisis has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to declare a national ‘Housing Emergency’, but warned that to make a tangible difference, Scotland needs new impactful policies and funding decisions that will end homelessness for good.

Ahead of a key Scottish Parliament debate on housing, the homelessness charity urged ministers to push ahead with plans outlined in the Housing Bill to strengthen the law to help people with unstable housing and prevent them from becoming homeless.

It called for a new, radical, cross-government prevention agenda for Scotland, alongside a reversal of cuts to the housing budget, which it said would be the most effective ways to resolve the housing emergency and prevent thousands from having to experience the trauma of homelessness. 

With almost 10,000 children now trapped in temporary accommodation in Scotland, the number of people in the homelessness system is at its highest since records began.

Official figures also showed the number of people sleeping rough is on the rise, with a 23% rise in number of people (888) making applications who had slept rough the night before.

Statistics found there were 15,625 households in temporary accommodation on 30 September (up 10% compared to September 2022).

With demand for its own frontline services also rising, Crisis warned that the Scottish Government cannot afford to wait to reduce pressure on the homelessness system.

The Scottish Government’s decision to declare a ‘housing emergency’ comes after the Scottish Housing Regulator reported that Edinburgh and Glasgow councils’ homelessness services are already in systemic failure, and another eight councils are at risk of this: Aberdeen City, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Stirling, West Lothian.

The Regulator is engaging with a further 15 councils regarding their homelessness services.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It is vital the Scottish Government addresses the pressure being place on the homelessness system as the cost of living crisis continues, and more and more people find themselves being pushed closer to homelessness.

“By declaring a national housing emergency, the Scottish Government can help bring about the cross-party support needed to make the homelessness prevention agenda in Scotland a reality. We need long term political commitments to radically reform the housing and homeless system from being about managing a crisis, to a system that acts early to prevent homelessness from arising in the first place.

“Housing has a critical role to play in this. We know what causes homelessness, and we know how to end it. Declaring a national housing emergency is an important moment in time, but it’s the actions that come from this that will matter the most. Investing in housing and reforming the homelessness system to better prevent homelessness should be top of the list. We can’t afford to wait.”