Raising the standards of temporary accommodation

Temporary accommodation in Scotland is under considerable pressure. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of families and individuals staying in temporary accommodation and waiting longer for a permanent home. The introduction of minimum standards for temporary accommodation will help to ensure there is a consistent quality of housing and service delivery for these households.

The current logjam in temporary accommodation has happened for a number of reasons. It is in part due to increased rights for homeless people with all homeless people being given the right to temporary accommodation in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 as well as the widening of the group of people eligible for housing by the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003. In our view, however, it is primarily a result of a decline in lettings of social housing which has created a backlog of people waiting for a permanent home.

The provision of more permanent housing to deal with the backlog will not happen overnight meaning there will be a continued need for temporary accommodation for some years to come. So, if we cannot move people out of temporary accommodation as fast as we would like we need to do more to make sure their time in temporary accommodation is a more positive one.

The standard of temporary accommodation currently varies widely and there needs to be a level in place which ensures a consistent standard across Scotland. While some housing standards do already exist they do not offer equal coverage to all types of households or all types of temporary accommodation.

Shelter argues for a consolidation of existing standards, and development of new ones to create a constant quality of housing and service delivery for households in temporary accommodation. Any standards introduced need to be realistic and achievable, particularly in relation to costs, but yet meaningful in terms of ensuring a level of quality for households. This report begins to list some of the areas a minimum standard should cover.

Shelter believes there is some appetite in the Scottish Government to take forward the development of minimum standards using section 7 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

The final content of the standards, their implementation and the regulation process should all be developed in consultation with individuals with experience of living in temporary accommodation, housing professionals and providers of temporary accommodation.