Homelessness isn’t just sleeping on the streets. Across Scotland people are living in housing that is damp, cold, overcrowded, insecure and unsafe. They're homeless in hostels, temporary accommodation or sofa-surfing
In Scotland a household becomes homeless every 16 mins.
People might lose their home for any number of reasons, but homelessness isn’t inevitable. A safe home is a fundamental need. We must protect it and fight for it.
Why do people become homeless?
The lack of social housing
You can’t solve homelessness without homes. Across the country, there is a chronic shortage of social housing – for decades, successive governments have failed to build enough. This has left millions of people and communities without access to secure, long-term homes with rent they can afford.
The pressure of private renting
By 2017 more people than ever were renting from a private landlord, but after decades of reform to the private rented sector, affordability is still an issue.
Lack of social housing forces low-income families into the more expensive and insecure private sector. 62% of families in private rented homes are receiving financial support with their housing costs, more than ever before.
On top of that over half of privately rented homes in Scotland are not considered safe and secure, have serious repair issues, low energy efficiency, or poor condition kitchens and bathrooms. In other words, they fail to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.
The strain of increasingly unaffordable rents as well as dangerous conditions such as mould, damp and broken heating put both our mental and physical health at risk.
Discrimination and inequality
If you’re a person of colour, you’re more likely to struggle to find a safe, stable home. If you’re leaving prison, the care system, the army, are a refugee, identify as LGBTQ+, are experiencing domestic abuse or simply receive benefits – struggling through the effects of the housing emergency will likely hit you harder. If you’re a wheelchair user or have a disability or health issue you could be stuck in a home that makes life worse, not better. All because our broken housing system fails to provide the suitable, safe and secure homes people need.
Unexpected life events
A relationship breakdown, losing a job, or physical or mental health problems might disrupt your life. And without a stable home or a fair welfare system to support you through tough times, an unexpected event can be all it takes for the pressure to pile up and for you to lose your home
