Scotland's internationally acclaimed homelessness legislation - which would see all people who are homeless being given the right to a permanent home by 2012 - is under threat without significant investment in housing.

Archie Stoddart, director of Shelter Scotland, will today (Monday) tell a major conference - which will be attended by Minister for Communities Stewart Maxwell - that increasing the supply of affordable rented homes is the 'lynchpin' to meeting the homelessness target.

Scotland's homelessness legislation (1) is the most ambitious in Europe. 2007 marks the halfway point in the ten-year programme to the 2012 target, with the Halfway to 2012 conference looking at what progress has been made - and what still needs to be done.

A new report - released today by the charity in conjunction with the conference - shows local authority staff working in homelessness think increased investment in affordable rented housing is the most important factor to meeting the 2012 target.

Minister for Communities and Sport, Stewart Maxwell will lead the invited speakers from the world of housing. (For a full list of speakers, see www.shelter.org.uk/2012). The conference is sponsored by Orchard and Shipman - the company managing Edinburgh City Council's Private Sector Leasing Scheme.

Archie Stoddart, director of Shelter Scotland, will tell the conference: 'Scotland led the way in the UK by banning smoking in public places - but we are leading the way in Europe with the most progressive homelessness legislation. The Scottish Government has set a target to ensure that every homeless person has the right to a home by 2012. We've even had France looking towards Scotland when shaping its own homelessness programme earlier this year.

'But the 2012 homelessness target is one of the biggest challenges faced by Scotland since devolution. We have five years to meet the 2012 target and the majority of local authorities in Scotland are working towards doing that. However, without significant investment in affordable rented housing (3), we will put the target under threat. Increasing the supply of affordable rented housing in Scotland is the lynchpin to meeting 2012. But it is not the only tool in the box - we must continue to concentrate on other ways of improving supply, like reviewing the Right to Buy policy, bringing empty homes back in use, as well as improving access to temporary accommodation by using the private rented sector and schemes like private sector leasing. We should also continue to look at ways we can stop people becoming homeless in the first place, like ensuring housing benefit is paid on time.'

By 2012 all unintentionally homeless people should have access to a permanent home, under Scottish legislation. Currently, only people designated to be in 'priority need' - generally families with children - have the right to permanent homes. All others have access to only temporary accommodation and support. By 2012, there will be no distinction and everyone will have the right to a home.

In 2005/6, around 40,000 households were assessed as homeless. Currently 75 per cent of all homeless people in Scotland are determined to be 'priority need' - by 2012 that figure should be 100 per cent. 

Angus Council has already moved to a person centre approach to housing allocation. Ron Ashton, Director of Neighbourhood Services at Angus Council, said: 'In Angus we decided to address the issue of shared assessment of client's needs and consequently have managed to phase out artificial categorisation of priority need this year rather than wait until 2012. This holistic approach places the individual's needs at the centre of the process. We now have a much clearer picture of housing and resource needs - the challenge now for local and central government is how to meet these needs.'

Notes to Editors

1. In 2003, the Scottish Parliament passed internationally acclaimed legislation stating that by 2012 all unintentionally homeless people would have the right to a permanent home.
2. Shelter Scotland, along with other housing organisations, are calling for 30,000 affordable rented homes for Scotland through this year's comprehensive spending review. For more information visit the media room at www.shelter.org.uk/csr_media
3. Spokespeople are available for interview, telephone the media office on 0844 515 2442. An ISDN line number is available for broadcast interviews. For more information about Shelter visit www.shelter.org.uk