Children growing up in social housing continue to lose their homes due to eviction. Eviction is a sign of failure and it is questionable whether eviction can ever be the most effective or ideal response to the difficulties faced by a family with children – from either an economic, social or moral perspective. Shelter believes alternatives need to be sought so that children do not lose their homes and spend unacceptable periods paying the price for debts which are the result of lack of appropriate support, housing benefit administration errors or financial mismanagement.

• Approximately 2,000 children lost their homes due to eviction action in 2007-08. This is the equivalent of five children every day in Scotland being evicted or forced to abandon their home.
• Children live in approximately a third of all households evicted by social landlords – includes councils and registered social landlords (RSLs).
• An estimated £11million was spent evicting families with children in 2007-08. This includes costs to the housing provider, homelessness services, social work and legal costs.
• Evicting a family with children is an ineffective method for collecting rent; it is expensive for social landlords and for the public purse, works against social landlords’ statutory responsibilities to safeguard and protect the well-being of children and prevent homelessness and has a serious long term impact on children’s lives. 
• The reasons why families fall into arrears are complex but tend to be related to low or intermittent income, poverty and health issues while triggers include sudden changes in peoples’ lives such as job loss, illness, relationship breakdown and bereavement alongside dealing with housing benefit claims and potentially multiple debts.
• There are more effective and efficient ways to deal with, and prevent, rent arrears and anti-social behaviour. Social landlords are key to this process. While some are making efforts to avoid problems escalating to the eviction stage and to seriously consider the impact an eviction may have on children’s lives, more social landlords need to follow suit.
• This briefing highlights a selection of good practice activities to social landlords which can ensure families with children do not get into situations where they are threatened with losing their home

The briefing concludes with a call for social landlords and the Scottish Government to promote alternative courses of action to avoid eviction. It calls for social landlords to adopt precautionary, pre-crisis and crisis interventions, in partnership with a wide range of advice and support services, to reduce the number of families threatened with eviction.