More needs to happen to stop people falling through the homelessness trapdoor as the recession bites.

That’s the message from Shelter Scotland at a major conference in Edinburgh today (Thursday). (1)

Tackling homelessness should be a top priority for the Scottish Government and local authorities – particularly in a year when councils should be meeting a benchmark target that will mark their progress towards Scotland’s internationally acclaimed homelessness legislation. (2)

Meeting the 2009 interim target comes at a tough economic time, says Shelter Scotland director Graeme Brown but Scotland must aim high.

The conference comes in a week when Citizens Advice Scotland revealed that the number of concerns about homelessness brought to its bureaux has doubled since 2000 (3), with its advisors across Scotland dealing with 8,000 approaches concerned with “actual or threatened homelessness” last year. That’s 22 cases a day.

The increase in calls for help chimes with Shelter Scotland figures showing the charity’s advisors have seen a 127 per cent increase in calls to its Scottish helpline over the Christmas and New Year period. (4)

Speaking ahead of the conference, Mr Brown said: “Uprooting your life from your family home, very often moving into sparse temporary accommodation and being in the dark about when you might get a permanent home is the reality of homelessness. It should be avoided at all costs. Preventing homelessness also brings a cost benefit to the public purse - estimates of the cost of a failed tenancy are hard to pinpoint but vary around the £20,000 mark.”

He added: “Avoiding homelessness, particularly in these uncertain times, is a priority, not just for those families who face the prospect of losing their home, but also to make sure Scotland lives up to its international reputation and meets the 2012 homelessness target. 2009 will be the year the Scottish Government assesses council’s progress towards that target – prevention is one of the keys to how well we are doing.”

The “Prevention of Homelessness” conference will explore a number of measures and services that can help people stay in their homes or otherwise avoid the crisis of homelessness. Specifically, this one day conference comes just weeks before Section 11 of the 2003 Homelessness Act goes live, which will introduce new duties on landlords and lenders to notify local authorities about their possession actions.

Notes to editors

1. http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/training_and_conferences/seminars_and_conferences/forthcoming_events2/preventing_homelessness_conference
2. 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. By 2009, all councils need to be halfway from where they were in 2003/4 to where they need to be by 2012. As an example, if a council determined 50 per cent of people in priority need in 2003/4, and it needs to be 100 per cent by 2012, then by 2009, it needs to be at 75 per cent. Overall in Scotland, 79 per cent of homeless applicants are being assessed as being in priority need. That means awe are already FOUR- FIFTHS of the way to 2012.
3. Citizens Advice Scotland: contact Tony Hudson 0131 550 1010, or 07774 751 655. http://www.cas.org.uk/pressrelease222009.aspx
4. Shelter Scotland helpline new cases: number of calls in November, 226; in January, 606.