Record number of children in temporary accommodation in Scotland

Key Points

Thousands more households in temporary accommodation than last year
Increase in rough sleeping before applying
Over half of refugee and leave to remain applications in Glasgow
Less time spent in temporary accommodation than last year
Edinburgh has largest increase in applications for homelessness

A record number of children are in temporary accommodation in Scotland, according to Scottish Government statistics.

Data released on Tuesday reveals that 19,004 households were in temporary accommodation as of March 31, 2026, an increase of 10% from 17,240 in 2025.

10,715 children are also in temporary accommodation as of March 31, an increase of 5% from 2025 (10,180).

Figures as of September 2025 were the highest on record, and these numbers have now been surpassed.

There were fewer than 200 more homelessness applications this year compared to last year. However, there were 35,002 households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, which is an increase from 2025.

The number of households reporting rough sleeping the night before application has increased from 2,464 to 2,949, and from 3,579 to 4,115 in the three months prior, between 2024-25 and 2025-26.

The average time spent in temporary accommodation for cases that closed in 2025-26 was 237 days. This is three days less than 2024-25 and compares to 325 days, on average, for cases that are still open.

83% of households assessed as unintentionally homeless secured settled accommodation in 2025-26, the same as 2024-25.

The time it takes to close a homelessness case following assessment, and where the household has been assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, has decreased from 281 to 277 days between 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Who is most affected in Scotland by homelessness?

The Government has released data on households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness (intentional or unintentional).

62% are aged 25 to 49
71% of households are single person, 24% contain children
74% are of white ethnicity
50% have at least one support need

Where in Scotland has the highest number of homeless households?

13 local authorities experienced an increase in applications, while 19 experienced a decrease, compared to last year, the Scottish Government said.

The largest numerical increases were in Edinburgh (536, 14%) and Aberdeen City (379, 22%).

The largest numerical decrease was in Glasgow (450, 5%).

Applications from households with eligibility categories that include those with leave to remain/refugee status and Ukrainian nationals tend to be concentrated in cities.

Over half (51%) of these were in Glasgow, accounting for 44% of all applications in Glasgow (3,550 out of 8,030).

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Nearly a quarter (24%) were in Edinburgh, accounting for 37% (1,645 out of 4,435) of their applications.

Aberdeen City has also seen an increase (from 260 to 610) in applications in these eligibilities, with these now accounting for 29% of all their applications.

Cabinet secretary for social justice and housing, Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We are taking decisive action to tackle homelessness and increase the supply of affordable homes across Scotland, however we recognise the latest homelessness figures remain far too high.

“We are determined to reduce homeless rates and are shifting our approach from crisis management to prevention and rapid rehousing. Our £50m Homelessness Prevention Fund, £2m Fund to Leave scheme for victims of abuse and delivery of 1,500 Housing First tenancies all look to support people before they reach crisis point.

“We will continue to work with third sector organisations to aid early intervention, including our recent £2m investment for Social Bite’s work to end homelessness.

“With homelessness levels remaining persistently high across the UK, I am urging the UK government to act immediately in the forthcoming budget by scrapping the freeze on Local Housing Allowance and providing local governments with further funding to address repeated Home Office policy failures.

“We will continue to do everything we can to tackle homelessness with the powers we have, including investing a record £4.9bn for affordable homes over the next four years. This will enable us to build on our success of delivering 146,000 affordable homes since 2007. Between 2007 and 2025, Scotland’s affordable housing supply per head of population was, on average, 45% higher than in England and 69% higher than in Wales.”