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Children in temporary accommodation in Scotland hits 10 year peak
The number of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland has hit a 10 year peak, the latest Scottish Government figures show.
In 2017/18 there were 6,615 children in temporary accommodation, a 9% increase on last year’s number. The number was only higher in 2008, when 7,124 children were living in temporary accommodation.
Overall there were 10,933 households in temporary accommodation, an increase of 1% on last year.
Households with children spent on average 204 days in temporary accommodation, longer than the 161 day average for households without children.
The majority of households in temporary accommodation – 59% – were in local authority or housing association accommodation, with a further 16% in hostels and 11% in bed and breakfasts (B&Bs).
At the end of March there were 39 households with children or pregnant women in B&B accommodation. This figure has increased from 33 at the same point last year.
There were 34,972 homelessness applications recorded in Scotland, 1% higher than the number of applications received in 2016/17.
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Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “These statistics are shocking and should start alarm bells ringing in Holyrood that homelessness in Scotland is getting worse not better.
“For the fourth year in a row the number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation has risen – up 9% to 6,615. And people are having to stay longer in temporary accommodation with their lives in limbo.”
He added: “This is clear evidence that the good progress we have seen in recent years is now being reversed and bad housing and homelessness is blighting the lives of even more people in Scotland – robbing them of their health, security and a fair chance in life.”
The Scottish Government has backed a recent recommendation to introduce a one week limit on all households staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation such as B&Bs.
A one week limit already exists for households with children or women who are pregnant.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We want time spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation to be as short as possible, especially for households with children or where there is a pregnancy. This is why we introduced a cap of one week for families and pregnant women living in B&B accommodation. We also need temporary accommodation to be of a high standard, with good support, for everyone.
“Last year we formed a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to tackle this issue, as well as homelessness and rough sleeping more widely. The group recently set out a number of recommendations on how we can transform the use of temporary accommodation and we will be bringing forward a programme of work to implement these recommendations, backed up by the £50m Ending Homelessness Together Fund, to drive change and improvement.”
