Homelessness in Scotland

Too many people in Scotland are becoming homeless because of the housing emergency.

Every 15 minutes a household becomes homeless in Scotland.

Homeless applications

In 2024/25, 34,067 households were assessed as being homeless or threatened with homelessness.

In 2024/25 there were 15,046 children in households that were assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness. This is the equivalent to 41 children in Scotland becoming homeless every day.

To prevent homelessness, we must fundamentally tackle Scotland’s housing emergency and fix the broken and biased housing system. See our strategy to find out how we plan to achieve this.

Graph source: Homelessness in Scotland: 2024 to 2025 (www.gov.scot)

Temporary accommodation

People have the right to be housed in temporary accommodation while the local authority is making a decision on their homeless application, and until permanent accommodation is found if they are 'unintentionally' homeless.

The latest government statistics show that on 31st March 2025, there were 17,240 households trapped in temporary accommodation.

This is a 6% increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation since 31st March 2024.

This graph shows the trend of households in temporary accommodation in Scotland over time, from 2015 to 2025.

On 30 September 2014 there were 10,319 households living in temporary accommodation. This rose steadily to 11,665 households in March 2020. During the pandemic there was a sharp increase to 14,151 households on 30 September 2020. This number then decreased slightly, but the most recent statistics show that the number of households in temporary accommodation, 17,240, is the highest on record.

Children in temporary accommodation

The latest statistics show that on 30th March 2025 there were 10,180 children in Scotland living in temporary accommodation.

This means at the current rate of progress it would take over 28 years to reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation to 0.

Graph source: Homelessness in Scotland: 2024 to 2025 (www.gov.scot)

The graph shows the number of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland over time, from March 2015 to March 2025.

Households with children tend to spend longer in temporary accommodation than households without children. In 2024/25, a couple in Scotland with children spent on average 386 days in temporary accommodation, whereas the average length of stay for all household types was 238 days.

The lack of affordable social homes in Scotland means there are not enough homes for people to move on from temporary accommodation. In particular, the lack of larger social homes means that households with children are stuck in temporary accommodation for long periods.

The most effective way to address the bottleneck in temporary accommodation is to deliver the social homes required, of the right types and in the right places. This should be a priority for the Scottish Government and local authorities.

Gatekeeping and unsuitable accommodation

From both our advice services and official statistics, we know that:

• some people are not offered temporary accommodation when they are legally entitled to it, an experience known as ‘gatekeeping’. In the year 2024/25 there were at least 16,485 instances when a household was not offered temporary accommodation by their local authority when they had the right to it. This is an increase of 107% - more than double compared to 2023/24

• in the year 2024/25 there were 7,850 reported cases of households being placed in temporary accommodation which was deemed by law to be 'unsuitable'. This number of breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order is a 6% increase compared to 2023/24. (The Scottish Government has said that reporting on this issue is
  unreliable and this figure is likely to be an undercount)

This is unacceptable. People should be able to realise their rights to temporary accommodation. This means that accommodation is made available when required, that it meets the needs of the household and that it is of sufficiently good quality.

Local authorities must, at a bare minimum, deliver their statutory duties regarding temporary accommodation and be held to account for any breaches.

Source: Homelessness in Scotland: 2024 to 2025 (www.gov.scot)

Social housing supply

Only by delivering the social homes required can Scotland achieve the structural change needed to end the housing emergency by ensuring everyone has a secure, warm, and safe home.

The Scottish Government has committed to deliver 110,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years, at least 77,000 (70%) of which will be homes for social rent. By delivering a minimum of 38,500 social homes over the next five years where they are needed most, we can begin to reduce affordable housing need.

There are currently 110,000 households on local authority housing waiting lists across Scotland.

Source: Scottish Government (2023) Scottish Household Survey 2021

Affordable housing supply

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme statistics give us information on the supply of homes for social rent, affordable rent and affordable home ownership.

We use these statistics to see if the social homes needed are being delivered.

During the year 2024/25, under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme:

• 5,972 homes for social rent were completed - a 13% decrease (864 fewer homes) compared to 23/24. This is the lowest number of completions since 2020/21

• 4,484 homes for social rent were started - a 14% decrease (978 fewer homes) compared to 23/24. This is the lowest number of starts since 2014/15

• 4,171 homes for social rent were approved - a 16% decrease (791 fewer homes) compared to 23/24. This is the lowest number of approvals since 2014/15

Home is everything. We will not give up until the Scottish Government fulfils its promises to deliver the social homes Scotland needs.

Source: Scottish Government: Housing statistics for Scotland quarterly update - June 2025