Councils take nine months on average to house homeless Scots, figures show

Scottish ministers have “completely failed” to tackle the housing crisis, Liberal Democrats claimed as figures showed it takes councils an average of nine months to find a homeless person permanent accommodation.

In 2022-23, it took an average of 270 days for councils to fulfil their duties and provide settled accommodation for someone who was either threatened with homelessness or who was classed as unintentionally homeless.

In the Edinburgh City Council area however, the average wait was almost two years, with homeless residents in the capital taking an average of 699 days to get a permanent address.

The authority was one of the first in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, something it did in November 2023.

Jane Meagher, the council’s housing, homelessness and fair work convener, warned at the time the authority was “at risk of failing households who need our help most”, adding the situation was “at the stage of breaking point”.

The figures, released after a freedom of information request by the Lib Dems, show the average wait across Scotland for councils to place homeless residents in settled accommodation was up from 240 days in 2018-19.

However waits were slightly lower than the average of 272 days recorded in 2020-21.

Homeless people in the Stirling Council area waited an average of 591 days for settled accommodation, the 2022-23 figures show, with those in Midlothian having an average wait of 550 days.

The Lib Dems said average waits had increased despite the number of people being assessed and housed having only risen slightly- from 20,505 in 2018-19 to 20,860 in 2022-23.

Willie Rennie, the party’s communities spokesman, said: “Ministers have completely failed to tackle the housing crisis.

“The SNP have axed a third from the housing budget, presided over record high levels of homelessness and let the number of affordable housing approvals fall to its lowest level for more than a decade.

“When people are in crisis, they need a roof over their heads if they are to have a hope of rebuilding.

“These figures show that overstretched councils are finding it harder and harder to get people into accommodation.

“Liberal Democrats are committed to tackling these housing failures head-on.

“We need a new national housing plan for Scotland that can stand up to the housing emergency, get more homes built and give people a home to call their own.

“We also want to see a budget that properly funds councils with a multi-year settlement so that they can plan and invest for the future.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.