Housing minister: We're not making excuses on homelessness

Official statistics published on Tuesday revealed there were more than 40,685 homelessness applications in 2023-24.

It is an increase of 4% on the previous year and the highest level since 2011-12.

As of March 31 this year, there were 31,870 live applications - the highest on record.

Record numbers of children were in temporary accommodation, with figures increasing to 10,110 from 9,595 between March 2023 and 2024.

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The Scottish Government joined 12 local authorities in declaring a housing emergency earlier this year.

Housing campaigners, including Shelter Scotland and Crisis, have described the figures as a "national shame".

The Scottish Conservatives told the housing minister the statistics should be a "source of shame".

 A record number of those in temporary accommodation also reported their living standards as unsuitable, the data showed.

Prior to the interview with The Herald, Mr McLennan said the Scottish Government had a "strong track record" in supporting the delivery of affordable homes, citing 133,000 completed since 2007.

It was put to Mr McLennan by The Herald that those experiencing homelessness would not consider that an acceptable description.

He responded: "It's not an excuse. We have got to highlight and understand the position that we're in.

"This year we've built 19,000 homes. We still, per head of population, built 40% more than England and 70% more than Wales.

"But we need to be doing more. Of course we need to be doing more."

Asked if he accepted the figures were not good enough, he said: "I think it demonstrates the scale of the challenge we're facing."

And responding to Scottish Tory housing spokesman Miles Briggs, who said the figures should be a "wake up call" and a "source of shame", he said he did not agree.

"No, as I said I think they demonstrate the scale. I'm the minister for housing, so I'm responsible for these figures. 

"We have taken action."

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Figures were also released on the quarterly housing statistics to the end of June, showing a 17% decrease in all sector housebuilding starts and completions between 2023 and 2024.

The Scottish Government aims to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. However, only 21,000 of these were built by March this year.

But the annual data published today showed a 17% decrease in all sector housebuilding starts and completions between 2023 and 2004.

Some 19,293 homes were built, with just 5,053 in the social sector and the rest in the private sector. 15,295 new builds were started.

Excluding 2020 - a year impacted by Covid, new houses built were at their lowest since 2018 and the number of new builds started was at the lowest level since 2013.

Mr Briggs, Scottish Tory Lothian MSP, said: "These scandalous figures should be a source of shame for SNP ministers.

“They might have finally agreed with calls from the Scottish Conservatives, councils and housing organisations that there is a housing emergency in Scotland but their disgraceful inaction is leading to homelessness levels rising all the time.

“Most shockingly, an increasing number of children are homeless, and our young people also spend the longest time stuck in temporary accommodation which is often wholly unsuited for living in.

“This is the effect of SNP ministers cutting almost £200 million from the housing budget at a time of an ever-growing crisis in our communities.

“These figures should be an urgent wake up call for this SNP Government. They need to stop sitting on their hands, and outline how they will finally tackle this emergency, which is leaving more and more Scots without a permanent place to call home.

“After 17 years of this failed and distracted SNP Government, it is clear that they are part of the problem not the solution to Scotland’s housing emergency.”

Mark Griffin, Scottish Labour's housing spokesman, said: "These shameful figures are a damning indictment of the SNP's record in government.

"No amount of SNP spin and deflection can mask the fact that they let homelessness soar and left over 10,000 kids without a permanent home."

He added: "Instead of dealing with the housing emergency taking grip in Scotland, the SNP fanned its flames by slashing the affordable housing budget and letting housebuilding plummet."

"Scots cannot keep paying the price for the SNP's catastrophic failures."

Housing minister Paul McLennan. (Image: Getty) Shelter Scotland director Alison Watson said the figures showed children were "paying the highest prices for politician's failure to get a grip on the housing emergency".

She said: “Once again Scotland has broken unwelcome records, and the sad fact is that’s becoming the norm whenever these statistics are published. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that we’re seeing homelessness by design; politicians know what needs to be done but have consistently failed to deliver."

Aditi Jehangir, chair of Living Rent, said: "Housing should be a right not a luxury. The Scottish government has it within its powers to fund social housing associations and local authorities to build more social homes and encourage stock buyback to help end homelessness."

Callum Chomczuk, national director of the Chartered Institute for Housing, said the figures were a "worrying escalation".

He called for "decisive leadership" which must include a clear path to achieving the 2032 housing strategy.

Meanwhile, Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to request funding to support the demand for asylum accommodation in the city.

Glasgow - Scotland's largest city - has more asylum seekers than any other UK council, with almost 5000 housed in Scotland.

In the letter, Ms Aitken stated the cost of this ran into tens of millions of pounds.

In July, The Herald launched a seven-point charter for change to help end Scotland's housing emergency including a call to change the law so thousands of Scots found to be at risk of homelessness every year get support earlier to stay in their homes.

The Charter for Change includes a call for the required funds to urgently increase the building of affordable homes so people can move more rapidly out of homelessness and into settled accommodation.

Put together in collaboration with a range of key groups including professional standards body Chartered Institute for Housing, homelessness charity Crisis and national tenants' rights organisation Living Rent, it aims to cut the surge of people who are presenting as homeless across Scotland by getting the nation building the houses that are badly needed.