Shelter Scotland welcomes Aberdeen housing emergency declaration

Shelter Scotland has today welcomed Aberdeen City Council’s declaration of a housing emergency.

A motion before this morning’s meeting of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee calling for the declaration of a housing emergency and an action plan to address it received cross-party support.

The housing and homelessness charity has led the campaign for Aberdeen to declare a housing emergency; it pointed to the loss of council homes to RAAC, the growing number of children in temporary accommodation, and the struggling local homelessness service as evidence of the critical situation in the city.

Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said:

“The number of children in temporary accommodation has more than doubled in the last year, people’s housing rights are being breached with increased regularity, and hundreds of council homes are being lost due to RAAC; Aberdeen is clearly in a housing emergency.

“Today councillors from across the political spectrum have shown leadership, taking the bold step of declaring a housing emergency and, more importantly, committing to doing something about it.

“Of course, we recognise that Aberdeen City Council can’t be expected to pick up the pieces of an utterly broken system on its own, both the UK and Scottish governments must share responsibility. However, it’s clear that every level of government has a duty to respond to the worsening situation and today must be the start of that process.

“It’s vitally important the words are now swiftly followed by action. Shelter Scotland and other organisations working on the front line of Aberdeen’s housing emergency stand ready to support the council as it prepares its action plan; this is just the start of a journey that only ends when everyone in the city has somewhere safe, secure and affordable to call home.”